THE MILL BUILDING DESIGN

One variable that distinguishes each mill is its power source. In the early 1800's all of the mills in Ohio were powered with water and wooden waterwheels were used to turn the buhrstones. Although each mill used water to power their mills, the individual design for each mill had to reflect the position of the waterwheel relative to the stones. If the waterwheel's shaft was on the same level as the stones, there was no need to transfer the energy via gears, pinions, belts and pulleys to an elevated level. If, however, which was often the case, the waterwheel was positioned lower than the mill building itself, or if the waterwheel was located in the lower level, then the energy had to be transferred up to the level where the stones were located.

Usually the buhrstones were located on the entrance level solely because the weight of the stones prohibited the miller from carrying them up even one level. The stones could weigh as much as 2000 pounds each! The normal configuration of a mill would be where the wheel was located outside on the lowest level of the building (basement) and the stones would be located on the first level of the building (entrance level).

If the mill was designed as a flour mill, there would be at least two additional levels above the first floor. The flour mill would be filled with elevators and shafts that traveled from hoppers to scrubbers back to hoppers to elevators that accessed the stones. Once ground, the flour would be elevated to high levels so that it could go through various sifting stages and sorted by different grade levels.

Many old mill buildings are found precariously built on the edge of a river with the dam right at the mill sight. Other mills are located at an elevated level above the river to avoid spring floods. The mill site itself is often much older than the present structures that we find today. Early pioneers were skilled in identifying a successful location for mills. Initially, the pioneer would build a temporary mill where he would construct a sawmill. With the sawmill he would mill wood for the gristmill and the miller's house. Once the gristmill was completed, the sawmill would often be discarded because it was built for the short term. The gristmill would be placed in the optimal location relative to water-power and out of the yearly flood plain. The old sawmill would be transferred to an exterior shed on the new mill or discarded. The gristmills that were built in the early 1800's were small and only ground corn and wheat. Bolting flour in the mill was not accomplished until the population increased to the point where it was economically feasible for the miller to construct a multi-level building and invest in bolting equipment. Once the community grew large enough to support a flour mill, the gristmill was renovated or dismantled and replaced with a new multi-level flour mill. There are a few old flour mills left today that were built in the 1840's and 1850's. The reason that there are so few remaining is that the process of cleaning wheat, grinding wheat, and sifting flour created a combustible dust. Although the millers would clean their equipment and constantly remove the buildup of dust, explosions would often occur. The dust would start to decompose and produce enough heat where it would burst into flames. The old mill buildings were built solely of dry wood and they would ignite like a pile of dry kindling. Poof! The mill was gone. Consequently, many old mills were destroyed by fire. These multi-level flour mills that were built in the 1840's and 1850's usually burned within 10 to 20 years and then they were replaced with the buildings that remain today. This explains why most of the old flourmills that we see today, even the old ones, were built in the 1880's and 1890's. Many mills still burned in the late 1800's. It is just that the technology increased and the equipment that was installed in the latter 19th century was more refined. When adequately maintained the accumulation of flour dust did not occur.

Most old mills we see today were once flour mills and they date somewhere in the 1880's or 1890's. Most of the old mills are multi-level because they were once used as a flour mill. Today we can find old mills being used as theaters, warehouses, woodworking shops, distillery's, museums, restaurants, art galleries, craft stores, apartments, community service centers, antique shops, taverns or as private homes. Ohio's old mills are fulfilling many of these alternative uses today.

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