Historic Rock Mill

Historic Rock Mill

Circleville, Ohio            High 85 Low 61

We finally had a nice sunny day.

We drove to the city of Lancaster, Ohio to see some of the old buildings and to go to the Ohio Glass Museum. Since this post will be so long, I will talk about the Glass Museum tomorrow.

We started our explorations at the Rock Mill a little north of Lancaster. It is a fully restored water powered flour mill. The restoration of the building was completed in 2010. When we walked in we were informed that the floor we were walking on was all original.

Rock Mill Park encompasses the historic Rock Mill, a stunning grist mill built in 1824 above the Hocking River Falls and the scenic Rock Mill Covered Bridge, constructed in 1901. Standing 90 feet above the gorge of the falls, Rock Mill stands as a testament to the rich agricultural heritage of Fairfield County, whose “fair fields” attracted so many brave pioneers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In the early 1800s Rock Mill was one of a dozen mills in the area whose power source was the Hocking River. The mill was in operation grinding flour and corn into wheat and meal as late at 1905.

For nearly 100 years, Rock Mill sat vacant. In 2003, Robert and Rita Stebelton donated the mill to the Fairfield County Historical Parks Commission. After an extensive archeological excavation, which included the discovery of Rock Mill’s original mill stones, the Historical Parks began extensive repair and restoration to the building. Through the combined resources of private donations, grants and government funding, the Historical Parks have been able to repair the mill’s exterior and rebuilt its four above-grade floors and two subfloors. In September 2012, the Historical Parks added a replica of the mill’s 26-foot-in-diameter all-wooden waterwheel, the largest of its kind in the state. In October 2016 the work began on installing the milling floor and connecting gearing in Rock Mill. The work on the milling floor and connecting gearing continues with the completion expected in Spring or Summer of 2017. The work mentioned is now complete.

Model of the Rock Mill.

The water wheel was turning at about 2 miles per hour.

The big middle wooden gear is turned by the large water wheel. It is blurry because it is going so fast inside. 

Cindy got lots of pictures of the Mill and the adjoining covered bridge.

After we left the Mill we stopped at White Castle and had one of their sliders each. This is the first one we have seen on this trip east.

We then drove back to Historic downtown Lancaster and got some pictures of the old buildings including the birthplace of W T Sherman, of General Sherman’s march to the sea fame. After that we went to the Ohio Glass Museum and as I stated above, I will post about that tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting.