The Oregon Mill, with the adjoining Italianate style house built for the miller in 1868 and stone barn across Lititz Run (formerly Carter Creek), constitute a group of significant buildings in Lancaster County history. Milling (grist, oil, and sawmill) commenced on or near this site between 1717 and 1735. The present stone mill was built for Jacob Steman (Stehman, Stayman, etc.) and his wife, Barbara, in 1814. In 1909, it was rebuilt for Henry and Anna Withers. When the road from Newport, DE, to Gap (present Oregon Road) was laid out in 1735, the earlier Bear's Mill on this site was its western terminus. This location along an important trade route between Delaware ports and inland Pennsylvania gave the mill site, one of the oldest in Lancaster county, strategic importance into the first half of the 19th century.

With the construction of new roads and railroad routes in the second quarter of the 19th century, the relative importance of the mill in broad-based trade declined. However, at the same time, in the circa 1840-1870 period, the mill was the focal point for a concentration of industries: a distillery was located less than 800 feet away, and about a mile to the east was Henry E. Leman's rifle factory. (The buildings of the distillery and rifle factory have either been destroyed or altered beyond recognition.) Gradually, in the late 1800s, Oregon became a quiet country crossroads, and the merchant mill became a custom mill. The grinding of grain in the Oregon Mill declined during the 1930s, and was discontinued by the late 1940s.

Of the five grist mills which existed in Manheim Township in 1815, only the Oregon Mill and Flory's Mill now survive. In overall form and building materials the Oregon Mill is representative of many limestone mills built in southeastern and south central Pennsylvania for about 75 years following circa 1790. However, it is unusual in being the only stone mill in Lancaster County with three date stones - one German and one English 1814 stone on the south side and the 1909 stone on the north.

The Oregon village locale was called Catfish in the 1700s and early 1800s. At the suggestion of Henry E. Leman, the hamlet was named Oregon when the Oregon statehood question was before the U.S. Congress in the 1850s. The name Oregon was officially used for a post office in the community by 1864.

The mill was renovated and restored during the early 1980s to serve as an office building and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Since 1989, it has served as the main office for COBYS Family Services. An added attraction on the property is a 15-foot-high chainsaw sculpture. Created by artist Jon Strom, of Cook, MN, in December 2000, the work features nine people supporting a triumphant child who is hugging a teddy bear with one arm, while raising the other to the heavens. The sculpture's theme is "People Helping People," an apt description of the mission of COBYS Family Services.

The mill and sculpture are popular stops for tourists and photographers.