Widow Catherine Smith
White Deer Township, Union County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Built a stone house on this site in 1774, operating saw and grist mills that stood near the intersection of the present highway. During 1776, she completed the boring mill where a great many gun barrels for the Continental Army were manufactured.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1774 Catherine Smith, a widow, established a stone house and a complex of saw and grist mills along this stretch of the West Branch frontier. When the Revolution came, she built a boring mill in 1776 that finished gun barrels for the Continental Army, turning a backwoods industrial site into a small arsenal for the war effort. Running such works alone in a contested wilderness was a formidable undertaking for anyone, and remarkable for a woman of her day.
Why it matters
Her mills show how the Revolution depended on countless local producers—and how a determined woman helped arm the fight for independence.
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Related people
- · Catherine Smith
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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