The Flour MillGeorgetown, Washington, DC
The terraced brick facade of The Flour Mill in Georgetown at dusk, with the entrance lit and the smokestack beyond

Georgetown, Washington, DC

The Flour Mill

One of the most iconic and historic
landmarks in Georgetown.

Historic Significance

A Georgetown Landmark Since 1832

Since 1832 this ground has been given to milling, a Georgetown story crowned by a rare survival: the last mill in the neighborhood. The Flour Mill, at 1015 33rd Street NW, stands on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, whose waters once powered the mills of Georgetown.

The Historic American Buildings Survey called this the only old mill remaining in Georgetown, and representative of an important local industry. Colonel George Bomford, an Army ordnance expert, raised the first flour mill here. From his cotton factory of 1845, a four story building with a large water wheel, the works returned to grain under A.H. Herr and took the name Pioneer Flour Mill. Wilkins Rogers later sold Washington Flour from this place, and was still milling when the survey arrived in 1967. In 1973 the old mill was entered in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites. It stands within the Georgetown Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 28, 1967.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and The Flour Mill

In 1980 the historic mill buildings were gathered into an office and condominium complex around a plaza, the brick exterior of the old mill almost unchanged. The residential condominium at 1015 33rd Street NW is dated 1985.

Flower planters on the brick plaza at The Flour Mill
Engraving of Pioneer Mills from Boyd's Washington Directory of 1886
Pioneer Mills, already a named presence in Georgetown, as engraved for Boyd’s Washington Directory of 1886. Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress.
Fourth floor of the mill in 1967, with sacks of flour still in place
The last mill in Georgetown, still at work. The fourth floor in the summer of 1967, sacks of flour in place. Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress. Photograph by George Eisenman.

The making of a landmark

  1. Colonel George Bomford, an Army ordnance expert, raises a flour mill on this ground.
  2. Fire takes the mill in September.
  3. Bomford builds a cotton factory, a four story building with a large water wheel.
  4. Thomas Wilson acquires the factory and carries on until the Civil War closes the cotton supply.
  5. A.H. Herr restores the building to flour milling, enlarges it in 1883, and names it the Pioneer Flour Mill.
  6. The Wilkins Rogers Milling Company takes the mill and sells flour under the Washington brand.
  7. A second mill rises next door, its wall proclaiming the Home of Washington Flour.
  8. The Historic American Buildings Survey records the complex as the only old mill remaining in Georgetown, still at work under Wilkins Rogers.
  9. Wilkins Rogers departs for Ellicott City, Maryland.
  10. The old mill is entered in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites on January 23. It stands within the Georgetown Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 28, 1967.
  11. Weissberg Development Corporation gathers the historic mill buildings into an office and condominium complex around a plaza, the brick exterior of the old mill almost unchanged. The residential condominium at 1015 33rd Street NW is dated 1985.

Sources: DC Historic Sites, Bomford Mill (Pioneer Flour Mills); Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress; The Georgetown Metropolitan, August 30, 2010; Ghosts of DC; National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Georgetown Historic District, listed May 28, 1967; and residential listings for the 1985 construction date. A full source list, with the facts drawn from each, is kept in the project history file.

For visitors and contractors

Notices

Construction hours

In Washington, DC, construction is allowed Monday to Saturday, 7am to 7pm.

Contractors and visitors

Contractors working near the building, and visitors with a question about The Flour Mill, can reach the Residential Executive Committee at ops@flourmillcondo.com.

Emergencies

If there is an emergency, call 911 first. Then write to ops@flourmillcondo.com so the REC can follow up.

For residential owners

Owner login

Announcements, documents, meetings, and construction reporting are kept in a private section for Flour Mill owners. Enter your unit number and the email we have on file. We will send a one time code to that email.

Contact

Write to the REC

The Flour Mill Residential Executive Committee

1015 33rd Street NW
Georgetown, Washington, DC

ops@flourmillcondo.com