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This photograph was taken by Joel L. Griffith of Cumberland, Maryland during one of his many excursions down the C&O Canal with the Shawnee Canoe Club in 1904. The Round Top Cement Mill had recently burned to the ground in 1903 and had not been rebuilt by the time of this picture. The mill was rebuilt but would close due to financial hardship in 1909.
127.4 Mile
NPS File 1441
The Round Top Cement Mill was constructed in 1837 by George Shafer and was sold to Robert Bridges and Charles W. Henderson in 1863. The cement mill would burn to the ground and be rebuilt in 1846, 1897, and lastly in 1903. During the time the mill was operating, it claimed to produce up to 300 barrels a day of natural rock cement with a crew between 50–100 men. The cement was used up and down the Potomac Valley, especially during the construction of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. It wasn’t long after the 1903 fire and the construction of the Western Maryland Railway that the company officially ceased operations.