Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 08/15/1989
NRHP Listing Date 12/06/1990
NRHP Reference Number 90001828
The ruins of Cocke’s Mill and the associated miller’s house are located against a steep wooded hill next to the splashing Hardware River in Albemarle County. The original Cocke’s Mill House and Mill Site complex was established in the 1790s by James Powell Cocke of Edgemont. The date of the miller’s house is uncertain but was probably built soon after the mill. The picturesque vernacular structure is one of only a handful of early millers’ residences in the southern Albemarle County region and the county’s only two-story stone miller’s house. Cocke’s Mill was known as Johnston’s Mill after 1880 and remained in commercial operation into the 1930s. The neglected structure apparently burned in the 1940s, leaving its stone foundations, dam, millrace, and cut stone arches, all giving a hint of the building’s scale and fine construction. The miller’s house is now a private residence.
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
Updated: December 24, 2022
