Very few water-wheel grist (or grain) mills survive around the United States, but even fewer water-powered turbine mills exist today. However, inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park one can still grind grains into flour.
It is uncertain just how many mills once operated inside what became the 800-plus square miles of Smoky Mountains National Park, encompassing part of North Carolina and Tennessee. Four mills still exist, but only one is a turbine mill.
Soon after passing the North Carolina Oconaluftee Visitor Center (located within the Cherokee Indian reservation Qualla Boundary) is historic Mingus Mill. The mill is tucked along a short pathway in ancient dense woods dotted with rhododendron and mountain laurel along Mingus Creek, which flows into the nearby Oconaluftee River.
A preserved clapboard, two-and-a-half-story millhouse stands steadfast and erect, despite its century-plus age. It was built from local trees in 1886 for $600 (around $20,000 today). Dr. John Mingus, an ancestor of one of the first families to settle in the area in 1790, contracted Sion Thomas Early to build the structure; his initials “STE” are carved into the front gable just under the eaves.
Instead of the mill built over a stream using a traditional waterwheel to turn a large millstone, the Mingus Mill relies on a water-powered turbine. The water from upstream builds velocity as it races down the 200-foot-long flume perched high atop Lincoln-log-style columns and enters the millhouse to activate an elaborate series of gears.
The water flow into the Mingus millhouse can be controlled by wooden spill-gate mechanisms along the extensive flume.
The machinery grinds the grain against a heavy millstone, weighing around 1,000 pounds. In general, the size of millstones were about 2 to 3 feet in diameter and 4 to 7 inches thick.
Jana Plemmons, a volunteer for three years at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Mingus Mill, explained: “It is not clear how the heavy millstone got into place. We have some information from the archives, but that is one bit of information I have not found. We assume because of the weight of the stone that the stone probably had to be moved in there by using mules or oxen and some sort of leverage. It definitely didn’t get there by just manpower.”
According to the National Park Service (NPS) information provided at Mingus Mill, turbine mills could operate when water was low in streams because of the water’s force through the flume–about 11 horsepower. In contrast, wheel-powered mills often had to be shut down during times of less rain or droughts.
Mingus Mill remained in the Mingus family until NPS began accumulating the lands that would become the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the 1930s (it was dedicated in 1940). Family members are buried at the nearby Mingus Creek Cemetery.
The Importance of Mills
Independently owned grain mills, like Mingus Mill, were once the lifeGrist millhouses often served as the meeting places for communities, with people bringing various goods and skills to barter with those waiting their turn at the mills. “Mills played an important role in people’s lives, and families often looked forward to ‘mill days,’” NPS says. Those gathered played musical instruments such as dulcimers, fiddles, and banjos, or discussed news as newspapers were passed around.
Today, anyone entering the admission-free (only a parking pass is required) Great Smoky Mountains National Park, who make their way to Mingus Mill, can easily imagine what took place there long ago. Plus, they can learn from the living history that this working mill continues to offer modern visitors.
