State

Passing of the Old Mill At «no time Iliere were hundreds of them scattered throughout North Carolina, hut today there art* only a handful of them left in the state. By CLARENCE GKIEEIN AN ancient landmark of yester- year, the old water-powered / \ grist mill, is fast going the way of the covered bridge and ox- drawn vehicle. Within a few more years the last remnants of this once prosperous industry will have disappeared. The water-powered corn mills, with their picturesque wooden wa¬ ter wheels standing sentinel over huge clapboard buildings are yet to be found on the creeks and in the coves of western North Carolina, but in steadily diminishing num¬ bers. As late as ten years ago there were more than a dozen of these plants within Rutherford County. Today there are less than half that number in operation. The old-fashioned corn mill is being replaced by the speedy little gasoline grist mills. Today’s de¬ mand for time-saving devices has relegated the water-powered mill to the background. Any village blacksmith or cross-roads garage owner can set up. at a minimum cost, a gasoline-powered grist mill, occupying only a few square feet of space. These little plants are capable of producing four or five times the quantity of meal that a water-powered mill will turn out. Big Saving in Time They will grind a given amount of corn into meal in ten or fifteen minutes, where the old-fashioned, slow-moving water mill would re- Siire an hour or more to produce e same amount. These modern little plants are usually housed in a building in connection with some other line of business or industry. Inasmuch as they occupy but little space, the overhead is negligible. On the other hand the old-type water mill required in nearly every instance an entire building of two or more stories, an impounding dam across some creek, a mill race and other appurtenances necessi- THE STATE. October IS. J946 tating constant core and mainte¬ nance. Until the advent of the gasoline engine, water furnished the only practical solution of the power problem in grinding corn. Oc¬ casionally a saw mill or carding plant could be found which was operated in connection with a corn mill. In fact, water was also ex¬ tensively used as motive power in sawmill operations until the turn of the century, and North Carolina's first textile plant, the Schenck-Warlick mill at Lincoln- ton, built about 1813, was powered by water. All of these old-fashioned grist or corn mills were built along sur¬ prisingly similar lines. The huge wooden wheel, 60 to 75 feet in circumference, stood at the end of the mill where the water from the mill race poured over it, fur¬ nishing the motivating power. This big wheel was geared to the simple machinery inside, all of which was wood, except the two large mill¬ stones, which crushed the corn into meal. These plants usually consisted of one large building, about two stories in height. On the inside, on a high platform, erected over the wooden machinery operated by the water wheel, was the mill. On the floor level was the long box into which the warm, pleasant-odored meal poured. Usually at one end of the big room was a large fireplace. Other fix¬ tures of the typical mill room con¬ sisted of a corn sheller, a pair of scales or steelyards, a few wooden barrels into which toll corn was poured, some re-bottomed home¬ made chairs and a mountainous pile of corncobs. Outside was the hitching rail for the farmers' horses, and in some instances a long feed rack. There was a time not so long ago when every community boasted of one or more com mills. Two decades ago there were more than a dozen plants on Cane Creek and its tributaries, while today the last vestige of these mills has disap¬ peared. Prior to the first World War the corn mill was to a large extent a community center in the rural areas. There the sheriff met the men of the neighborhood to collect taxes. It was a convenient spot for the taxlisters in the springtime. The farmers made frequent use of the mill for a variety of busi¬ ness, social and political purposes. Indeed, the growth of North Carolina may be said to have been fostered and nourished around the early corn mills. Being a com¬ munity center, the only roads worth boasting of led to the nearest corn mill. Many important meetings and gatherings prior to, and dur¬ ing the Revolution, were held at such spots, and many decisive events in early state history had their inception in such informal sessions. The operator of a corn mill, until recent years, was a privileged per¬ sonage in his community. Under early state lows he was exempt from serving in the organized mili- (Confinued on page 24) 7