ESI ARTIFAQS: A History of Grist Mills in North America

ESI’s Archaeological Laboratory Director (Cultural Resources Management Group), Don Miller, describes one of the first industries established in the New World by European migrants. Built to grind grains, grist mills represent a very early New World industry.

How old are grist mills? Per Strabo (a Greek geographer), a grist mill powered by water existed before 71 BC.

Where was the first grist mill established in North America? In Jamestown, VA in 1621.

Why were mills important? Successful farming of corn and other grains brought from Europe required an efficient method for grinding grains into flour for personal use. The earliest mills played an integral role in many communities and the miller took a percentage of the customer’s ground grain as payment. Mills also served as community meeting places and in rural areas mills were often erected before churches. Millwrights were in high demand and received a premium price for their multidisciplinary knowledge.

 How were mills powered? Originally, most mills were water-powered although some were wind-powered and others powered by livestock. Steam and diesel engines replaced water power by the early portion of the 20th century and commercial mills are currently powered by electricity. The majority of water wheels were of the overshot type.

Where is the world’s largest Overshot Waterwheel? In Mill Springs, Wayne County, KY. The 40-foot overshot wheel was placed on the mill in 1908. The current mill was built in 1877 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s.

What are some of the technologies are involved in the mill’s components? Stones, used to grind the grain into meal are a primary component. Originally quarried in the Paris basin and known as pierre de meulière, stones were imported to the states, and finished in larger cities. In OH, Cincinnati and Cleveland represented the major finishing areas for the French buhrs. As French quarries were depleted, smaller sections of burhs were joined together by a large metal band. Recent geological techniques, including thin sectioning and fossil identification, were used to identify numerous sources of buhrstone in North America. Further, the stone required “dressing” for optimal grinding. Millers visually inspected the grain and listened for audio cues from the stone to determine when the stone required redressing.

What does it all mean? Mills served an important role in historic landscapes and communities. The study of mills includes a variety of disciplines such as physics, engineering, architecture, geology, archaeology, genealogy, oral history, and economics, to name a few. Mills in North America were tied to the international economy for importing stones and exporting surplus grains. If you have not heard or seen a mill in operation, take the time to do so. They are big machines and witnessing one operate is a multisensory experience.