Mill Race

"A mill race, millrace or millrun is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel (sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared to the broad waters of a mill pond, the narrow current is swift and powerful. The race leading to the water wheel on a wide stream or mill pond is called the head race (or headrace), and the race leading away from the wheel is called the tail race (or tailrace).  A mill race has many geographically specific names, such as leat, lade, flume, goit, penstock..."  re/Wikipedia

Well the view above is really not the mill race but rather the tail race.  Some time ago - long before I was born and possibly even before my father was born, the North East Creek had been dammed - in lovely Port Deposit Granite - and a millrun dug perpendicular to the creek (still in evidence near the police station, though it now is dry and overgrown in briars, honey suckle, trees and feral cats) that ran to the Mill.  When I was just a young elementary school boy the mill was in disrepair but the race still ran deep and the mechanism of the turning wheels was much in evidence.  However beyond the mill and the drop-off the tailrace ran somewhat parallel to Main Street and exited to the river as you see above on the right of the photo.  Many a family at the end of town would row a small rowboat up the tail race and carry their shopping home in the little boat rather than arm-load it home a longer way by street.