Illick’s Mill, an operational grist mill from 1856 to 1915 in Bethlehem, is significant for its architecture and its representation of the Lehigh Valley's once-thriving early industrial and agricultural era. Illick’s Mill is in many ways a textbook example of Lehigh Valley mill design and construction during this period, and was once associated with a complex of agricultural structures. Its roof monitor, added in 1887, is an interesting example of architectural modification used to accommodate  new and larger rolling machinery. Illick’s Mill’s building form is reflective of technological innovation and ingenuity as the mill industry in the Lehigh Valley struggled to adapt to competition and a rapidly changing economy. The mill’s history is typical of the seven mills that once operated on Monocacy Creek, each competing to serve local farms in the Lehigh Valley’s agraian community, all of whom eventually closed when competition from larger midwestern farms and mills became too fierce. Illick’s Mill closed because it was no longer profitable, unable to compete with cheaper flour shipped from larger midwestern mills.
John Peter, built, owned and operated the grist mill with his son Joseph Peter. The Peters sold the Mill to Samuel Shimer on April 1, 1869. When Mr. Shimer ended up $2,000 in debt, all of his land, roughly 20 acres including the Mill and property, was taken from him through court order in April of 1879. On October 14, 1879, William (Edward) Illick bought the mill for $1,400 and continued on with the flour and feed company. Even though the old stone building was under new ownership, it was still being referred to as the Peter’s Mill twenty years later.
Luckenbach Mill, from the 1700’s, and Illick’s Mill are the only remaining mills that once dotted Monocacy Creek. Its post production uses have been varied: office space, the centerpiece of a public park constructed by the Works Progress Administration, a music center / coffeehouse, a nature center, a theater and a haunted house.
Illick’s Mill went through many owners and lessors. William Illick leased the business to Josiah B. Woodring in 1880, and then to a man (name unknown) from Bushkill when William retired. In 1885, Joseph Illick, William’s son, along with his partner, Henry Lapp, took over the mill. The milling firm of Illick’s and Lapp soon dissolved, leaving Joseph the sole owner. On the north side of the grist mill stood a three story, wooden saw mill and on the south side of the grist mill stood a two story dwelling where Joseph Illick resided with his wife, Clara, and their children, Stanley, Joe, Beaulah, and Esther. In 1902, Joseph Illick closed the mill, and relocated his family, leaving the grist mill empty.
Illick’s Mill produced “unexcelled” flour for general trade, mostly in Bethlehem and Hanover Township markets, as well as performing some custom grinding for local farmers. During this era, neighboring farmers and the local community depended on the local mills to grind mostly wheat and corn. Interviews with Joseph's only surviving child, Joe Illick, indicated that some higher quality flour from the mill was also shipped to the Philadelphia and Jim Thorpe areas by train and canal. There was one miller constantly employed at the Mill, while proprietor controlled all sales and distribution.
In 1911, the city sank three wells near the mill, supplying Bethlehem with water. In 1913, the newly-formed Monocacy Milling company began renting the mill from the Illick family for $25 a month. In 1915, an epidemic of hoof and mouth disease, most likely caused the deaths of Frey’s company. All the milling machinery was then sold, including the overshot wheel that jutted from the basement mill into the first floor.
In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration constructed Monocacy Park, with the vacant mill as its architectural centerpiece. The park contains two large stone pavilions, two stone gazebos straddling an aesthetically-designed dam, a bridge spanning the creek, walkways along the creek with stone walls, and dramatic entryways, one of which sits directly n front of Illick’s Mill. In addition to the Works Progress Administration efforts, Mrs. Anne C. Herman and her husband Philip Herman gave a 1,400 foot strip of land to enlarge what was then called Illick’s Mill park, but is now known as Monocacy Park. Road improvements were made, increasing accessibility to the park, and the newly paved road was named Illick’s Mill Road. `
A group of Liberty High School students, under the direction of a charismatic teacher Robert Thompson, founded Teens for the Restoration of Illick’s Mill (TRIM). The group reopened the Mill in 1965 for use as a lively teen hangout. The students performed minor renovations to the building’s interior: replaced broken windows, painted murals on the plaster walls, patched the deteriorating tongue and groove flooring using historically accurate techniques  (under the direction of Flexor Illick, a grandson of the last Illick to own the Mill), and constructed a mill wheel with the intent of using hydroelectric power in the facility. This particular experiment never worked very well -- the wheel generated only enough energy to light a bulb.
The mill became the first music venue open to teenagers and the Lehigh Valley, and its popularity spawned the opening of several other similar venues, including the Mod Mill, housed in Coopersburg, and The Firehouse, housed in a vacant firehouse on Bethlehem’s South Side. None of these venues achieved the popularity and notoriety of Illick’s Mill. Particularly memorable performances are recalled at Illick’s Mill including concerts by Howlin’ Wolf, Skip James, David Bromberg, and Todd Rundgren.
As the sixties changed, the scene at the Mill changed. The similar youth venues that had opened in the Valley closed, only increasing Illick’s Mill’s popularity, but problems ensued. The youthful idealism that had inspired the Mill’s new life, faded and at times the scene grew ugly. Several hundred young people would descend on the Mill at a time, including occasional visits from the Hell’s Angels motorcycle group. Racial tensions stirred, fights broke out; even Robert Thompson was injured trying to break up a fight, and drug use and drug dealing was rampant. In 1973, Robert Thompson announced the closing of Illick’s Mill.
The arts were still at the mill until 1978, however, with the five year presence of the Browning Theater Company, a local group that performed off-Broadway-style productions performed by young people under the direction of Stanley Shaffer, now the manager of the Walter Kerr Theater on Broadway.
After seven years of citizen effort, a 25 acre nature preserve was dedicated on March 12th, 1973, across Illick’s Mill Road, just south of the mill, expanding the greater Illick's Mill property to 28.25 acres of contiguous public land.
The most recent occupancy was a branch of the local Chamber of Commerce called the Bethlehem Jaycees, who ran a haunted house in the building from 1980 to 1994. There were significant improvements to the building during this period: the roof was restored with historically accurate slates and the foundation was stabilized. the Jaycees disbanded in 2001.
The future of the Mill has been in the hands of the Illick’s Mill Partnership for Environmental Education ever since, which plans to reopen the mill as a nature center. This effort is being led, once again, by a Liberty High School teacher and students.
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