Like a sleeping giant, the Ashburn Mill sits at the very heart of the community. A huge complex of structures totaling more than 9,000 square feet just off Ashburn Road, it’s currently empty – newly refurbished and awaiting the right tenant or tenants.
Ashburn Magazine asked local historian and Ashburn Village resident John Gretka to do a deep dive into the mill’s century-long history.
Located in Ashburn’s Historic District, the Ashburn Mill consists of several buildings on the east side of Ashburn Road, behind the Carolina Brothers BBQ restaurant and south of the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail.
The mill is the end result of the construction of two warehouses on this site – with additions by many different businesses – over a period of more than 100 years. One of the warehouses dates to around 1903 and the other to around 1913.
Originally known as the Hutchison Brothers Mill, the foundation of the structure is a combination of cinderblock and brick, and the exterior walls are covered with board-and-batten siding.
To read more about how the mill was inextricably linked to the adjacent railroad and Ashburn’s agricultural history plus the time some unfortunate thieves tried to burgle the mill, click here and see the rest of the story on the Ashburn Magazine website.