More than a century ago a young Pennsylvania folk artist traveled to the Village of Durham and stayed for a while to study the local grist mill, which had been built nearly a century earlier.
After he captured the image in his mind, Paul “Papa” Horning returned to his Berks County studio to paint from memory what he had seen in the village. He had a sharp eye and he was selective, including just enough of the mill’s surroundings to highlight its prime position in the village.
Horning painted the original mill with a covered wagon and a team of horses standing along the Old Furnace Road side of the mill. He added the old general store across Durham Road. Both were dirt roads in the early 20th century. And he didn’t miss the rolling hills that have always seemed to hold the little village in a warm embrace.
That oil painting now hangs in the Durham Township meeting room, a gift of Ronny Riegel, who donated it to the Durham Historical Society. She is the widow of Dr. Richard Riegel who was born in Durham.
David J. Oleksa, president of the society, said he and Stephen Willey, treasurer, had gone to the home of Mrs. Riegel in the Selinsgrove area to pick up the painting. He said when Dr. Riegel had died, the painting had been left to a relative. After that relative also died, the doctor’s widow decided to give it to the historical society.
Oleksa said Mrs. Riegel told him she believed it had always been her husband’s intention to have the painting eventually go back to Durham.
She said Dr. Riegel’s father and brother were millers at the Durham Mill. She said her husband had served in the Korean War in a M.A.S.H. unit and was a scrub nurse for Dr. Richard Hornsberger, who under the pseudonym, Richard Hooker, wrote the original book that the M.A.S.H. TV series and movie were based on.
Horning (1896-1984) was a folk artist who lived in Brecknock Township in Berks County. He was noted for the rural and agricultural scenes he painted throughout eastern Pennsylvania. He was known as Papa later in his life.
Oleksa said he believed the painting, which measures 48 by 24 inches, was completed prior to 1913 when a warehouse was added to the mill. Only the original mill portion is shown in the painting.
The mill was built in 1820 by William Long on the foundation of the Colonial-era Durham Furnace. The mill, staffed with local workers, functioned as a flour and feed mill until 1967 when miller Floyd Riegel ceased operations.
The mill is now owned by Durham Township and houses what is believed to be the second oldest post office in the country as well as the historical society’s office.
It is listed on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places. The village was the center of activity for the early 17th-century Durham Ironworks, one of the oldest industrial enterprises in the country. It produced ammunition for the French and Indian War and the American Revolution as well as other non-military items.
Members of the historical society are acting as stewards for the mill. Since 2017 the society has undertaken several projects to clear the mill’s millrace and grounds and has begun the first of several phases of planned restoration for the structure at an estimated cost of about $80,000. Once restored, the mill will be open to the public for demonstration of grain milling and historical education about the surrounding area.
Society members had also hoped to celebrate the mill’s 200th anniversary this year, but all plans had to be set aside temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The painting, on loan to the township, will remain on display in the meeting room for an unspecified length of time so residents can view it.
James Walter, a director of the society, has organized a GoFundMe site for donations for the restoration. It is gofundme.com/f/mill-restoration.
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