The first recorded member of the Deardorff family was Anthony Deardorff, Sr., a German Baptist who left Germany to escape religious persecution. He and his three sons, Peter, John, and Anthony, arrived in Philadelphia on September 15, 1729 and later took up residence in Germantown, PA. John's son, Isaac, born in York County Pennsylvania, purchased a tract of land in what is now the northern end of Adams County. On this land, in 1773, he built a grist and oil mill, just one year after his marriage. His first home was a one room log cabin until, in 1786, he built a two story red sandstone home.

     It began as a 200 acre land grant purchased from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the amount of 10 pounds per 100 acres. At that time, the mill was a part of York County, as Adams County would not be formed until 1800. The town of Petersburg (now York Springs) was also not in existence at that time. The mill was not the only business present at the location, but was rather part of a complex of buildings and businesses. There was a blacksmith shop, a creamery, and even a newspaper published at the mill called the Bragtown News. The mill itself was used as an oil mill, grist mill, and saw mill.

     In 1937, Chester B. Worley hired Laverne Weigard of Wellsville to deconstruct Deardorff's Mill because of safey concerns due to its deteriorating condition.