At Peirce Mill, the long pandemic shutdown is over

This week, Peirce Mill welcomed its first field trip since 2019.

Friends of Peirce Mill and the National Park Service restarted the mill and resumed visiting hours in mid-July, after a 15-month Covid-19 shutdown.

The shutdown did not mean downtime.

The mill hosted a virtual Heritage Day celebration, as well as virtual programs on cider and baking. Friends of Peirce Mill’s July newsletter mentions hosting almost 700 students this past spring for virtual learning. And for the past year, Friends of Peirce Mill has partnered with Rock Creek Conservancy and Howard University students to research the life and times of African-American entrepreneur Hattie Sewell, who ran the Peirce Mill tea house from 1920 to 1921. A single complaint by a prominent – and racist – neighbor shut her down.

A short film about Sewell premieres at the mill on September 10th. Other upcoming events include an ice cream-making demonstration on August 21st, and Heritage Day on October 9th.

Peirce Mill’s buildings (at 2401 Tilden Street NW) are open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the end of October. The mill’s volunteers are also demonstrating early 19th century grain processing between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. In other words, the mill will be running this month on Saturday, August 14th and on the 28th.