Clipper Mill

(current structure built 1865) 3300 Clipper Mill Road

The White Hall Grist Mill was built on this site sometime prior to 1789.

White Hall grist mill was sold to the White Hall Company in 1839 and enlarged for weaving cotton duck to make sails for clipper ships. White Hall went through several owners until it was conveyed to Horatio Gambrill c. 1850. In 1854, it caught fire and was rebuilt and renamed Clipper Mill. In 1865 it burnt again, but was rebuilt within the year to double its capacity and in 1868 became the flagship mill of William E. Hooper and Sons. Sold to the Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company in 1899, Clipper Mill continued as a cotton mill until 1925 when it was sold (McGrain 601).

Since then, Clipper Mill has had a variety of occupants. It was bought by Purity Paper Vessels, which made wax cone milk containers (Doug & Linda) and ice cream containers (The Soda Fountain), in 1925. "Continuing efforts to adapt the building to changing technology, the new owners converted the plant from steam power to industrial gas. In 1941 the I. Sekine Brush Company, a maker of men’s grooming products and toothbrushes, purchased the mill and occupied the space until 1972." (baltimoreheritage.org) Penguin Books also used part of the mill as its U.S. distribution center in the 1950s and ’60s. It was redeveloped as Whitehall Mill in 2016 by Tera Nova Ventures .