Advance Mills Historic District, once an important milling village in western Albemarle County, is centered around a dam on the north fork of the Rivanna River. The Fray family, which moved to the area in 1833, built and shaped the community. The family was responsible for the construction of almost all the components of the district. Included in the district are some 20 contributing resources, including four houses with numerous outbuildings, a general store, the mill site, the dam, and a metal truss bridge. Milling was carried out there from the 1830s until fire destroyed the mill in 1948. In addition to the usual grains, the mill also processed wool and sumac for dyeing cloth. The Advance Mills Historic District is sited in bucolic rolling countryside around the intersection of two country roads and along the banks of the river.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia