The site has never been located, said University of North Carolina Wilmington history professor Chris Fonvielle.

He pointed out that the present-day Burnt Mill Creek is really Green’s Millpond, and the original Burnt Mill Creek ran along the west and north side of Oakdale Cemetery. It feeds into Green’s Millpond, which feeds into Smith Creek and then the Cape Fear River.

Fonvielle’s theory is that there was a mill dam somewhere near the mouth of the real Burnt Mill Creek.

“My guess is that it (the mill) would be at the confluence of the real Burnt Mill Creek and Green’s Millpond creek,” Fonvielle said. “When you get to 20th and Market, Market Street dips down, and then you go back up … and all of that would have been flooded presumably. The mill dam and mill would be farther in the direction of Burnt Mill Creek beyond Bellevue Cemetery (which is at the corner of 17th Street and Princess Place) farther north, but we’ve never identified where that was.”

Date posted: February 16, 2011

User-contributed question by:
Matt Johnson