In 1865 a group of conspirators set out to kill the president and vice president of the United States. The president, Abraham Lincoln, was killed by John Wilkes Booth, but one of Wilkes Booth’s co-conspirators, George Atzerodt, failed to kill vice president Andrew Johnson. Atzerodt fled Washington to a property owned by his family in Germantown and, on his way, spent one night at Clopper Mill—unwittingly thrusting this structure into the pages of national history.

The beginnings of Clopper Mill date back to the 1770s when this grist mill was built to harness the energy of nearby Seneca Creek. In the early 1800s, the mill was sold to local businessman Francis Cassatt Clopper, who added another level to the mill. The mill remained functional until the early 1900s and was destroyed by a fire in 1947. The ruins of the mill today are part of Seneca Creek State Park, but they have not been developed, as they are in the flood plain of Seneca Creek.

The ruins, composed mostly of two of the original four walls of the mill, tower to a height of three stories. The top layer of red brick was added to the original mill by Francis Clopper. Perhaps while you visit these ruins you can ponder the lives of the generations of millers who lived here. Maybe you can even imagine George Atzerodt staying within the walls of the mill that lonely night a long time ago wondering about his impending fate (he was apprehended, tried, and hanged).