The mill property is part of a land grant named Ridgeley's Forest, surveyed on June 3, 1685, by Colonel Henry Ridgley, a future justice of the peace for Anne Arundel who arrived in the colonies in 1659.

In 1750, Alexander constructed an early mill along the river at the falls and passed it along to his sons Brice Warfield and John Worthington.

Simpson acquired several local plantation properties and was noted in the 1790 and 1800 Anne Arundel County Census having 16-17 enslaved people working for him by 1800.

[17] The mill had established itself early on as a premier site of manufacturing product and machinery for the east coast as noted in an 1825 letter from Daniel Lammott to E.I.

The parcel was named "Conclusion", which was joined with Charles Alexander Warfield's "Wincopin Neck" upstream to form a dam on the Little Patuxent River, which runs adjacent to the mill property.

[20] In 1831, Mr. Hack, a machinist at the mill developed a machine for reeling and twisting silk that was taken to Washington for a patent[21] The same year, a case of Small Pox struck at least 30 persons.

[24] After a drought in June 1836, the company decided to operate a lower cost wagon path to connect to the new B&O railroad and a portion of the Thomas Snowden's property on the Hammond Branch was added to divert water.

During his sickness, the company developed "Baldwin's Cotton, Hay and Tobacco press which was manufactured onsite for sales in the Southern states and the Rechm planing machine.

[27][28] Additional land was purchased by the mill on November 28, 1843, for $4,755 that included property from Mr. Lambert and William Worthington for firewood and ore for the furnace operations.

[30] In 1848, Amos A. Williams entered ligation against the Savage Manufacturing Company and his brothers George, Cumberland and Nathanial claiming they tried to force him into poverty from indebtedness during his illness.

[38] Throughout World War II the mill produced heavy duck for canvas, hoses, refining and sails and community power from the waterwheel.

At time the 400 acre complex employed 372, consisted of twelve industrial buildings and 98 houses owned and rented by the mill.

[39] Although there were early records of using African American apprentices prior to the civil war, the mill remained segregated through most of its industrial history.

[41] It featured live reindeer, a one ring circus, and a miniature train that carried guests to the mill from a parking lot on U.S. Route 1.

In 1950 the mill was purchased by Albert Winer and his brothers Samuel, Hyman, and Ephraim who used for warehousing by the National Store Fixture Company.

Buzzutto homes proposed a housing project called the Settlement at Savage Mill which included significant grading changes and donations of land by the parks department to the developer to maximize density, which was opposed by a referendum attempt.

[48] The 7000-person referendum attempt was suppressed by the landowners' attorney, William Erskine, who sits on the economic development agency as well as the same law firm as County Executive Ken Ulman's father.