War Eagle Mill

On the day after Christmas (Boxing Day in Great Britain and most of her former colonies except the U.S.) we drove out to War Eagle Mill. I'm not sure why. I went along to just kill some time by taking a few pictures. I think there was some shopping for stone ground corn involved.

The mill on this site dates back to 1832 when it was built by Sylvanus and Catherine Blackburn. It was washed away once, rebuilt and then later burned down when it became a casualty of the Civil War in the chaos after the Battle of Pea Ridge. After the war, the Blackburn family rebuilt the mill and some years later sold it. The mill burned down again in 1924. The mill site set unused until rebuilt again by Medlin family in 1973. Since 2004 it has been owned by Marty & Elise Roenigk.

The mill is powered by an undershoot water wheel.

Click to enlarge.

The cypress wheel has to be rebuilt periodically. Water and beavers take their toll.

Through a system of pulleys and belts, the power of the water is transferred to the granite grinding wheels. The wheels turn 64 times faster than the water wheel outside.

The corn is fed into the red cone in the picture and drops into the stones in the red box below.

Click to enlarge.

The mill sits next to a bridge on highway 98. The bridge was built in 1907 by the Illinois Steel Bridge Company.

The mill is just outside Hobbs State Park.

This old building is on the site, also.

You can learn more here ---> War Eagle Mill