Ghost Expedition Montgomery County, Silver Spring Maryland: Burnt Mills West Special Park/Robert B Morse Water Filtration Plant

The Burnt Mills area in Silver Spring, Maryland takes it name from a mill that was said to have burned down there sometime before 1788, possibly circa the 1740′s timeframe

From an antique copper stencil, veteran local journalist J. Harry Shannon (aka “The Rambler”) speculated in 1916 the burnt mill may have been known as “Glen Cairn Mills Family Flour”

Milling operations in Burnt Mills date to 1745 when then area was surveyed and patented as the “Mill Seat.” The area’s terrain and rapid waterfalls enabled the operations of a series of grist, saw and flour mills. The first mill in Mill Seat was constructed later that year on property owned by Samuel Beall Jr. And this was likely the namesake mill that burned down

The earliest records of a grist mill at Burnt Mills date to 1803 when the property known as “Beall’s Industry” was sold by Walter Beall to Peter Kemp and James W. Perry

Nathan Lufborough acquired the mill property, described in an 1823 deed as “one hundred acres more or less”. He had intended to sell the mill in 1847 but he died before the sale could be completed, leaving the property to his heirs. The property was listed in 1850 as a “flour and bone” mill

The mill at Burnt Mills was owned by James L. Bond from 1858 to 1886. The mill produced three grades of flour and stone-ground corn mill. The technology of the mill improved over time. A roller mill replaced mill stones around 1895. A turbine had replaced the wheel by 1880

Bond sold the property to his sons-in law in 1886. The last owner was Dr. George W. Bready who acquired the flour mill and land in 1906

In 1913, The Rambler rendered the following portrait of the old flour mill in the Sunday Star

The shingle roof of the mill is green, dark and old, with moss, but nearly everything else about the mill - the miller, of course, included - is whitened by the flour and meal ground there, and which has been grinding there so long that no man's memory runneth to the contrary Near the mill is the miller’s house, bowered in the shade of numerous close-growing trees and the home of Dr. William T. Brown, surrounded by shrubbery, orchard and vineyard

By 1922, the mill had ceased operations. That year, the mill was sold to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC). The old mill sat idle for years until it was demolished in 1928



In 1879, Burnt Mills (Four Corners) was a farm community with a population of 125 persons. In 1934, the Robert E. Lattimer Land Company developed the area as a community of country estates known as Burnt Mills Hills. The development preserved the area’s topography of rolling hills and streams and farm lanes

WSSC began construction of a water filtration facility in 1930. The plant featured a “state of art” design, by WSSC Chief Engineer Robert B. Morse, for rapid sand removal and water treatment

The plant had two filter assemblies, two pumping stations and a new concrete dam. Pumping stations were designed in the Georgian Revival style to give the appearance of large colonial houses rather than a public utility

The low-lift pumping station moved cleaned (sediment free-water) to filter assemblies where lime and ammonia were added

The filter assemblies featured circular rings that were used for each stage of the filtration process, which included coagulation, filtration, and delivery

Chlorine was added as the high-lift pumping station moved treated water to WSSC distribution lines



The late Robert Brooks Morse (1880-1936) was married to Carrie Emma Ross-Morse (1883-1979). They had two children: Caroline Allen Morse (1903-1905) and Katherine B. Morse-Devereaux (1904-1984)

He was trained as a civil engineer at Johns Hopkins University (A.B. 1901) and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (S.B. 1904). He became Chief engineer at WSSC since its inception in 1918

Unfortunately, he died prematurely at age 55 due to blood poisoning, months before the water filtration plant opened. WSSC named the water filtration plant in his honor

The water filtration plant did not have the capacity to meet rising service demands from suburban growth and it was closed in 1962. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission acquired the former water plant in 2000. Today they are recreational facilities known as Burnt Mills West Special Park (the high-lift pumping station) and Burnt Mills East Special Park (the low-lift pumping station)

There are no haunting legends associated with historical Burnt Mills nor the Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Facility. However, there may be potential for transcommunication experiences owing to area history. The ghost expedition will focus on “drop-in” communications, and not on evidence for a haunting

The ghost expedition will also participate in National Ghost Hunting Day (NGHD), an event sponsored by Haunted Journeys magazine. Connectivity and live streaming will be provided by SHINDIG. Digital marketing services for the event are being provided by CyberSpyder. The event will attempt to build a global “consciousness bridge” that will last two hours

Data from random event generators (REGs) belonging to the Global Consciousness Project (GCP) that are in proximity to participant locations will be monitored over the event

Results from NGHD 2016 noted a marked shift in random walk trending generated by GCP REGs at the outset of last year’s event

Similar patterns were also encountered at NGHD start in MPR’s REG experiment in 2017 in Dundalk



The film project will not be open to the public but will be livestreamed over the SHINDIG platform. Look for “Site, MD, USA, Burnt Mills West Special Park”





REFERENCES:



Beall, J.R. (1931). The history and construction of the mill at Burnt Mills, Maryland. Initiation Thesis. Records of Phi Mu Fraternity, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries. University of Maryland, College Park. Hosted at archive.org

Boyd, T.H.S. (1879). The history of Montgomery County, Maryland - From its earliest settlement in 1650 to 1879. Baltimore, W.K. Boyle and Son

Bushong, W. (1994, May). Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant. M33-22. Maryland-National Capital Park And Planning Commission. Maryland Historical Trust

Cook, E.M.V. (1992, Nov). The Story of Burnt Mills. In The Montgomery County Story, Quarterly Journal of the Montgomery County Historical Society, Vol. 35. No. 4., Rockville, MD. pp 225-235.

Find A Grave, database and images. Memorial page for Robert Brooks Morse (13 Sep 1880–31 Jan 1936), Find A Grave Memorial no. 135832899, citing Chebeague Island Cemetery, Chebeague Island, Cumberland County, Maine, USA. Maintained by townsendburial (contributor 47629974)

Historic Preservation, Montgomery County, Maryland. (1996, Mar 6). Montgomery County Atlas (MCATLAS) Map Viewer: ROBERT B. MORSE COMPLEX (WSSC). Resource Number: 33/022-000A. Maryland-National Capital Park And Planning Commission. Montgomery County, Maryland

Kelly, C.L. (2012). Burnt Mills Hills. M33-29. Maryland-National Capital Park And Planning Commission. Maryland Historical Trust

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY. (2018). Maryland State Archives

Montgomery Parks. (2016, Aug 15). Burnt Mills West Special Park. Maryland-National Capital Park And Planning Commission

Montgomery County Planning Department. Montgomery County Atlas (MCATLAS) Map Viewer: Burnt Mills West Special Park. Montgomery County (MD). Department of Parks. Montgomery County, Maryland

National Ghost Hunting Day: The World’s Largest Ghost Hunt. (2018). Haunted Journeys

Shannon, J.H. (1913, Jun 22). With the Rambler. Sunday Star, Washington DC. Reprinted in Neighbors of the Northwest Branch

Shannon, J.H. (1916, May 14). With the Rambler: Tramping the Northwest Branch. Sunday Star, Washington DC. Reprinted in Neighbors of the Northwest Branch

Sutton, R. (2016, Jun 16). Burnt Mills Dam has a long history in Montgomery County. Ross Sutton Blog. Keller Williams Real Estate

Williams, B.J. (2017). Exploring Collective Consciousness: Could There Be Some Implications for Paranity?. National Ghost Hunting Day Collective Consciousness Article. Psychical Research Foundation







IMAGES:

Historic American Engineering Record. (1968). REAR ELEVATION of high-lift pumping station. Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant, 10700 and 10701 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD. Library of Congress

Historic American Engineering Record. (1968). FRONT ELEVATION of high-lift pumping station. Colesville Road (also called U.S.Route 29 or Columbia Pike) is in foreground. Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant, 10700 and 10701 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD. Library of Congress

Burnt Mills Flour Mill prior to its demolition - Figure 1. (c 1928). From Beall, J.R. (1931). The history and construction of the mill at Burnt Mills, Maryland. Initiation Thesis. Records of Phi Mu Fraternity, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries. University of Maryland, College Park. Hosted at archive.org

Burnt Mills Flour Mill prior to its demolition - Figure 2. (c 1928). From Beall, J.R. (1931). The history and construction of the mill at Burnt Mills, Maryland. Initiation Thesis. Records of Phi Mu Fraternity, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries. University of Maryland, College Park. Hosted at archive.org

Historic American Engineering Record. (1968). GROUND FLOOR of high-lift pumping station. Note the main stairway and columns. Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant, 10700 and 10701 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD. Library of Congress

Historic American Engineering Record. (1968). ATTIC of high-lift pumping station showing steel framing and concrete slab roof units. Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant, 10700 and 10701 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD. Library of Congress

Historic American Engineering Record. (1968). OFFICE SPACE ON SECOND FLOOR of high-lift pumping station. Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant, 10700 and 10701 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD. Library of Congress

Historic American Engineering Record. (1968). BASEMENT of high-lift pumping station. Note steel I-beam and pump foundations. Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant, 10700 and 10701 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD. Library of Congress

National Ghost Hunting Day: The World’s Largest Ghost Hunt. (2017). Haunted Journeys

Montgomery Parks. (2016, Aug 15). SOUTHEAST ELEVATION. Burnt Mills West Special Park. Maryland-National Capital Park And Planning Commission

