Available year round, dawn to dusk ONLY. Night caching is not permitted. Please park in the designated areas only. Please don't turf Mac's lawn!
This cache is located within the Rogues' Hollow Historical Park and Chippewa Nature Preserve with permission from Rogues' Hollow Historical Society. The Chidester Mill houses a small museum which is open Sundays from 2pm -4pm during the summer. While visiting you may see the caretaker for this beautiful area. His name is Mac. He is fortunate enough to live in the residence at the Chidester woolen mill. Mac is very knowledgeable about this area so feel free to ask him any questions and thank him if you see him. At his discretion, Mac may open the museum and/or allow caching briefly after dusk. The amount of work that he does is amazing! CCW permitted. ;-)
In some areas of the preserve you may see "No Trespassing" signs. These signs are not directed toward geocachers as geocachers have permission to look for caches and explore the property. (These signs are to deter kids from hanging out and drinking beer.)
Legend around these parts tells of the story of a young man crushed to death at water wheel at Chidester’s Woolen Mill. One day while repairing the wheel he lost his balance and was crushed to death…at least that’s how some tell the story.
For many years afterwards it was known by residents of the Hollow that the ghost of this young man came every night because he wanted to finish the job. According to The History and Legends of Rogues’ Hollow Walter Collier claims that as a boy he and other boys saw the ghost of this crushed young man after the mill had been boarded up. Some folk even think that the Ghost of Chidester’s Mill had something to do with the burning of the Chidester home in 1948; six days after an outsider bought the property.
In 1828 Samuel Chidester and his wife Margaret moved to “Pleasant Valley” which is now known to be Rogues’ Hollow. Samuel was attracted to the area and the possibility of harnessing the Silver Creek to turn a water wheel in a woolen mill. Samuel and his brother Ephraim built a log cabin at this location. After his new business prospered Samuel moved the log cabin and built a new home on this site.
Sadly sometime after moving here Margaret died. In 1851 Samuel married a widow from the Doylestown area; Mrs. Deborah Peek Lyon. The Chidester and Lyon children were raised together. After they were adults two of the children Albert Chidester and Sarah Lyon married. After Samuel Chidester's death in 1863, Albert Chidester, his wife and two children lived here.
The Chidester’s were very religious and attended the Presbyterian Church in Doylestown every Sunday. Prayers were said every morning before work and also before each meal. This included not only the family but also the employees. They religiously observed the Sabbath on Sunday and even their meals were prepared ahead of time and served cold. Later in life, when demand at the mill dropped, Albert supplemented his income farming and selling Bibles.
The Chidester home was originally two stories and contained three large rooms on the first floor. The second floor was made up of two wings which were reached by two separate staircases. Each wing was intended for the males and female employees who worked in the mill. Meals were made in a large fireplace in the kitchen. It also had four fireplaces and two chimneys.
You’ll see what is left of the Chidester home beneath you. Imagine where the west and south wings stood above this large cellar hole. If you look carefully you can see where steps go into the cellar from the outside.
Across the lane directly south of you is where the Chidester stables were located. A well is also still visible 250 feet southwest of the cellar remnants at a heading of 230 degrees. The well was conveniently located near the stables to keep the animals hydrated. Nowadays you might not see any horses but you’re likely to see some cats around the area. They live here and like to roam the woods. They keep Mac company too.
Most of the information for this cache series has been derived from the book
Rogues' Hollow - History and Legends by Russell Frey. I have read this book many times as the stories of the Hollow are fascinating to me. Originally published in 1958 this book was more recently reprinted in 2002. For further information please contact the Chippewa - Rogues' Hollow Historical Society.
http://www.rogueshollow.org
A special "Thank you" to the Rogues' Hollow Historical Society for allowing us to hide these caches and to the caretaker, Mac for his helpfulness.