New page for Historical Mills

Historical Mill pictures are now being added to a new website at: https://sites.google.com/site/historicalmills/ please visit the site to see pictures arranged by state.  Also additional pictures can be found on my flickr.com website at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/91501806@N00/collections/72157603548636206/.

Blaker’s Mill

Blaker Mill is located in central West Virginia near Weston at N39° 5.8080' and W80° 28.0003'. Blaker's mill was originally located in another location about 150 miles south and was moved to the Jackson Mill site piece by piece. The Jackson Mill was determined that it was impossible to make it into an operating mill. Therefore it was decided to move another mill to the site so that visitors could see an old water mill in operation. The source of power is the water in the mill pond. The mill ponds water is pumped from the West Fork River near the mill (the original power source for the Jackson Mill) and flows back into the stream after it turns the waterwheel. The mill is a very good historically correct mill as museum mills go. The mill is in very good condition. The mill site is owned by West Virginia University. There are other historical buildings at the site as well as the old Jackson Mill; this was one of the places that Civil War General Stonewall Jackson lived as a youth. http://www.wvu.edu/~exten//depts/jmill/jmh_area.htm

Unique Mill

Unique Mill is located in Friendsville, MD, which is in far western Maryland. The mill has been closed for a number of years and situated on the Maple St. (MD 42) within Friendsville. This mill was powered by electricity that was generated off a dam in a nearby stream (Youghioghemy River). The story that I was told is that this was one of the first electric mills in the area. The mill also sold electricity to the town. Most of the equipment was manufactured by the Unique mill company or least the equipment is marked with this name. Therefore, I am not sure about the name of the mill since it and the equipment are the same, so the individual that told me the name of the mill may have been mistaken.

Inside the mill most of the equipment is still in the building, including roller mills, sifters, air cleaners and baggers.

On the top of the mill is BP gas station sign.

The mill is closed to the public.

Easton Roller Mill

Easton Roller Mill is located in eastern West Virginia near Morgantown at N39° 39.0177' and W79° 54.7388'. It is a museum mill and owned by the Monongalia Historical Society (1980). The mill was built in 1864 by Henry Mack from Philadelphia for Henry Koontz.

The roller mills were installed between 1894 and 1910 they are still within the mill. The mill is constructed of an oak frame; it is two and one-half stories in height. (Monongalia Historical Society)

The mill is in very good condition, it is powered by a steam engine located in the basement of the building, and a boiler is located adjacent to the building. The engine still functions and the mill can grind grain, not all pieces of equipment are still functional.

Compton Mill

Compton Mill is located in southern Pennsylvania at N39° 45.6922' and W79° 7.4025', about two miles north of the Maryland state line. The mill is not in operational condition and the mill dam is gone. The mill is located on Tub Mill Run, as the name implies the mill was a tub mill at one time. No waterwheel is visible on the mill. It is a very pretty building sitting in Amish country. While I was photographing the building an Amish buggy went by, though it was moving too quickly to get a good picture of it and the mill. The back right corner of the mills wall is gone and thus opens the mill building to considerable problem. The rest of the building is in excellent condition. Within the building most of the machinery appears to be intact, though the mill has been inactive for a long period of time. I was able to explore the interior of the building, though very dark and I was very impressive with equipment present. I visited the mill on September 26^th of 2008.

This mill had both roller mills and millstones. On the second floor of the mill were bolters and sifters.

The tail race of the mill was in very good condition. There are plans to restore the mill and a new main shaft is within the building.

Decaying Old Mills

This blog is a link to a blog on the decaying nature of old water powered mills. The video is a section out of my Applied Physics class in the energy, work and power section. The first mill is Beck's mill and it has been restored since the video was created. http://www.intellipodcast.com/IntellipodcastBlog/Default.aspx

Beck’s Mill

After more than a year of renovations Beck's Mill will open to the public the weekend of September 20 and 21st. Beck's mill is located in rural Washington county in Indiana at 38 32.214 N, 86 09.290 W, southwest of Salem, IN. For a map of directions goto https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPEXMN36R59kqSqbXdSZYyHK0qfn6F8yr30PQhcGKk8eu_Mw8OEJbGhCdWLGriEmePVXTqtTG20Ix32wjZrPxteoa3Uszzcweb6DlnESiGgY9Rw3N5wqR6M_3WV6XzOq2ACm91o2NcrpM/s1600-h/map.jpg. The mill was raised from the foundation and the foundation was accurately repaired. The waterwheel and two turbines were repaired as well as the flume. New siding and a roof were put on the building. For views of how the mill looked prior to renovation read my blog at: http://historicalmills.blogspot.com/2007/05/becks-mill.html. For more information about the grand reopening of this 200 year old mill site (this mill was constructed in the 1860s) go to http://friendsofbecksmill.org/.