Seventeen local water mills ground grain, sawed lumber, pressed oil seeds, and fulled or pressed wool and cotton into felt--some well into the 20th century. Most mills turned along the Patuxent River and the Hawlings and its tributaries; several harnessed Rock Creek and the Northwest Branch. Four gave their names to roads: Bowie, Muncaster, Chandlee, and Haviland. Today the mills have vanished except for traces of the old ponds and races, a scattering of millers' houses perched nearby, and a few ponderous millstones mellowing in gardens and walkways.

The Brookeville Woolen Mill stands downslope from the miller's house on the Hawlings. A fulling mill, it pressed coarse fabrics for "servant's clothing"--laborers' winter wear--as well as for heavy blankets. The stone house, early residence of millers Newlin and Farquhar, today is the home of Woody and Kathy Young.

Brooke Grove grist mill added steam power in 1877 to ensure reliability during drought or flood. One of its millstones--the lower or nether stone--adorns a walkway at the Sandy Spring Museum.