Forty years ago, a shuttered vacuum repair shop sat at the corner of Washington & White in downtown Mount Holly. There had been little to no interest in the building for almost a decade when my sister Robin & my mother set their sights on the building that sat at the confluence of the Mill Race Waterway and the Flood Relief Channel, better known to locals as The Oxbow because of the shape of the waterway that meanders on a journey around the center of town.
The waters of the North Branch of The Rancocas Creek run through both waterways. They fell in love with the building because it had all of the elements they deemed valuable for what would become The Robin’s Nest Restaurant – a historic building overlooking water within walking distance of the County courthouse and all the foot traffic that comes along with it. The fact that my mother first met my father at that very corner didn’t hurt the attraction, and when Robin spied a robin’s nest nestled above the front door the deal was all but done. The building underwent a massive rehabilitation to showcase its historic roots; and, accomplish an adaptive reuse into a restaurant, bar and catering location all with terraced outdoor patios that allow for full view of those waterways.
One of those waterways is The Mill Race whose stone walls are thought to be the oldest structure in one exceptionally historic town.
The waterway was hand dug in 1732 by members of the Gaskill family. It is very narrow and once was very deep. The Mill Race runs between the back doors and backyards of the properties on Mill Street and Church St, between Pine St and The Robin’s Nest. Hidden from sight, for many except the lucky few property owners and those dining outside at The Robin’s Nest. The Mill Race was cleverly designed for the Rancocas waters to race through the gullet gaining speed as it coursed through the deep and narrow walls until it reached the mills where its speed provided the energy to power those mills.
Once The Robin’s Nest Restaurant had its grand opening and had a few years of operation under its belt, it became time for our family to begin investing in the surroundings. A sense of place is a feeling of connectedness, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual, to a specific geographic area. The objective was to create a sense of place in the community along White, Charles and Church Streets by purchasing single family homes and converting them, through adaptive reuse, into the elements that create a sense of place. Having The Mill Race be the namesake of Mill Race Village was the logical first step in creating that sense of place.
