About the town » Advance Mills, Albemarle County, Virginia, United States

Advance Mills, also known as Fray's Mill, is an unincorporated community in Albemarle County, Virginia.It is a historic mill village dating from 1810. The community was built by the Fray family, who moved there in 1833. A historic district including its area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.The community first became known as "Advance Mills" in 1888, and the traditional story is that the name was coined by John Fray "who claimed that people frequently commented upon all the advances being made there."The National Register-listed area is 85 acres (34 ha) and included 18 contributing buildings and 2 contributing sites and 3 contributing structures. At listing date, the district included a bridge, a dam, a millrace, and four houses.The site of the mill and the site of a general store remain; the mill itself and the supply store were destroyed by fire in the 1940s.Significant contributing properties in the historic district include:Advance Mills Bridge, crossing Rivanna RiverAdvance Mills Supply building site, lying below what is now the Advance Mills StoreAdvance Mills General StoreJ. M. Fray House, the best-preserved house in the district, c. 1810SchoolhouseSmokehouseBank barnother outbuildingsthe Gaines Fray House (II), from 1921, an American Four Square, just south of the store on west side of 743Gaines Fray House (I)A. G. Fray mill siteBank Barn, 1/4 mile west of Rivanna River crossingBallard House, c.1900, an "I-house"↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ↑ ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4