CURRY CREEK PARK IN JEFFERSON, GEORGIA

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Grist mills were a major industry for many small villages and towns during the Colonial Era in American and particurly Jackson County history. These mills ground up grain and corn meal and flour that was important to the food production of a region. Many farmers came to these mills to convert their crops into usable products.
　
How a Grist Mill Worked . . .

Water flowed into the buckets on the waterwheel and made it turn.
Gears and rods connected the waterwheel to the grindstones which turned and ground the grain into flour.
The miller ran the grist mill and had to know how to grind the grain properly and fix all the machinery.
The miller needed special knowledge to operate, adjust and repair the mill wheel, gears and
millstones. He had to know how to grind different types of grain without spoiling the flour. It
was important for him to be in top physical condition because he had to carry big sacks of grain
and flour.
Grain Sacks
In the first half of the nineteenth century, grain sacks were made from tow linen (lower grade
linen). Women would process the flax plant and send the fibre to the weaver who produced linen
material. Then the cloth was cut and sewn into cloth sacks. The sacks were usually between 38”
to 42” wide which was the standard width of early looms. Did any of you ever wear shirts or a dress made from a flour sack? These sacks were all hand sewn and
linen cording was used to tie the sacks. All household linens (tea towels, clothing, bedding, etc.)
had the owner’s initials or order of use stitched onto them. This included the family’s grain sacks
to identify ownership. Initials on sacks were usually found in upper corners or in the centre of the
bag. Cross-stitch embroidery was used for the initials and the size of the letters varied between
½” to 1 ½” (.75 cm to 3.75cm). The farmer’s initials on sacks allowed the miller to return the
ground grain to the appropriate farmer.
When railways started to arrive in “urban” communities in the middle of the nineteenth
century, sacks started to be made from cheaper cottons produced in the southern United States.
Millers from merchant mills (a mill that produced flour for wholesale) started to stencil their
mill name onto cotton sacks during this time period. The stencilling technique required a copper
stencil and a brush. The stencilling occurred prior to the bag being filled. At the turn of the
twentieth century, sacks were being produced and labelled by machines. The year 1910 was
marked as the start of modern packaging with the introduction of paper bags, cardboard boxes
and paper labels pasted onto dry goods barrels.
Corn Meal was usually packed in 50 pound bags while the standard for flour was a 30 pound bag. This was probably due to the difference of price per pound of the two items in that flour was more costly than corn meal.
Grist milling was a very dusty and dirty job. A good miller’s senses were keen as he could
tell by the rumblings of the wheels and gears if everything was working smoothly.
　
Tools that were needed to run a grist mill
Pit wheel
The main tool of the grist mill was the pit wheel, which was connected to the main water wheel that powered the mill.
The pit wheel was mounted on the same axle as the water wheel and would drive a smaller gear-wheel, the wallower, on a main driveshaft running vertically from the bottom to the top of the building. This system of gearing ensures that the main shaft turns faster than the water wheel, which typically rotated at around 10 rpm. The millstones themselves turn at around 120 rpm.
Waterwheels
Why did the miller need a steady flow of water to operate his mill? As there was no electricity to
make their mills work they relied on the waterwheel to turn the energy of water into the power
needed to grind grain. The waterwheel was a huge wheel with paddles or buckets around its
outside rim that were called an over-shot’s.
A mill’s source of water was it’s mill-pond. From the mill-pond,
water was carried through a channel known as a millrace and was directed to the top of the wheel
through an open trough called a sluiceway. When the sluice-gate was opened, the water spilled
into the wooden paddles or buckets on the outside of the wheel. Even a small amount of water could operate
the overshot wheel because the water in the top paddles/buckets was pulled down by gravity and forced
the wheel to turn.
Millstones
This wheel turned the millstone that crushed grain and corn on the BED stone.
A RUNNER stone was the upper of a pair of working millstones. A RUNNER would stone spin above the stationary bedstone creating the "scissoring" or grinding action of the stones. A runner stone was generally slightly CONCAVE, while the bedstone was slightly CONVEX. This helped to channel the ground flour or cornmeal to the outer edges of the stones where it was gathered up.
The surface of a millstone was divided by deep grooves called furrows into separate flat areas called lands. Spreading away from the furrows were smaller grooves called feathering or cracking. The furrows and lands were arranged in repeating patterns called harps. A typical millstone would have six, eight or ten harps. The grooves provided a cutting edge and help to channel the ground product out from the stones. When in regular use stones would need to be dressed periodically, that is, re-cut to keep the cutting surfaces sharp.
Millstones came in pairs. The base or bedstone was as, I mentioned, stationary. Above the bedstone was the turning runner stone which actually did the grinding. The runner stone was supported by a cross-shaped metal piece fixed to a "mace head" topping the main shaft or spindle leading to the driving mechanism of the mill ( water powered in the Jefferson Mill although some other mills has wind power capabilities. The pattern of harps was repeated on the face of each stone, when they were laid face to face the patterns meshed in a kind of "scissoring" motion creating the cutting or grinding function of the stones.
Millstones needed to be evenly balanced, and achieving the correct separation of the stones was crucial to producing good quality product. The experienced miller was be able to adjust accordingly his stones properly.
The distance between the two stones depended on the type of grain being ground, such as corn, rye or wheat, and the miller had to make certain that the stones did not touch or the flour would spoil or even catch fire. These grooves, called “furrows,” cut in the stones ripped off the grain's outer husk and permitted the escape of ground flour or meal and of air that carried off the heat generated by friction. Millstones, made of ordinary granite or sandstone, varied in size from 4 to 6 feet in diameter and weighed up to a ton,

A millstone around one's neck is a Biblical metaphor meaning a burden or large inconvenience one has to endure.
The phrase "Show your mettle" is also said to come from milling. Millwrights, who would typically shape the stones during maintenance, would use a thrift and millbit (or mill bill), and the millbit would often break off small flecks of metal during use. Being made of iron, these pieces would enter the forearms of the millwright during the course of his work, and thus a large collection would show his continued dedication, employment and experience
　
Hammer and Chisel
Most grist mill workers used hammers and chisels to cut grooves and slats into the grinding stones. These grooves as previously mentioned would remove husks of corn or help crush grain better. Mill workers had to continually watch for wear on the wheels to make sure they were grinding properly.
Grain Scoop
Grain scoops were wooden tools used to take grain from the wheel and pour into bags for sale and storage.
Hoist
Because most grain was stored on the (top) floor of the mill, many larger mills used a hoist system to lift heavy bags to the top of the building instead of lugging them up the stairs. These were simple hoists using ropes and pulleys.
Trammel
The trammel was a wooden device used almost like a modern wrench to test the strength of a millstone's spindle.
The mill did a large business in gristing; people brought their grain and awaited their turn at grinding and then received their finished product and bran from their own grain, the grinding of which was paid for by toll. Each grist was tolled so much for the grinding.
Most mills ground grain into coarse flour, corn meal and grist or grain mills ground the grain for livestock feed only. Early mills used hardwoods for the grinding wheels until the miller could purchase a set of stone wheels which lasted longer and ground the flour to a finer consistency.
"Grist for the mill"
The proverb "all is grist for the mill" means "everything can be made useful, or be a source of profit." There are some minor variations, such as "all's grist that comes to his mill", meaning that the person in question can make something positive out of anything that comes along.
A miller ground whatever grain was brought to him, and charged a portion of the final product for the service. Therefore, all grain arriving at the mill represented income, regardless of its quality.
By 1935, there were 2,600 independent millers in the country. Times were changing.
A miller ground whatever grain was brought to him, and charged a portion of the final product for the service. Therefore, all grain arriving at the mill represented income, regardless of its quality.
In the early 1930s prices dropped so low that many farmers went bankrupt and lost their farms. In some cases, the price of a bushel of corn fell to just eight or ten cents. Some farm families began burning corn rather than coal in their stoves because corn was cheaper. Sometimes the countryside smelled like popcorn from all the corn burning in the kitchen stoves.
The 1930s are remembered as hard times for many American families. With the coming of World War II, the government began hiring many men to serve in the army. Factories began receiving orders for military supplies. But the memories of the Depression did not go away. Many Americans worried that when the war ended, hard times would come again.
Bread 1 lb. 12¢ 1920

Bread 1 lb. 9¢ 1925

Bread 1 lb. 10¢ 1925 New York

Bread 1 lb. 10¢ 1929 Chicago
Cornmeal 1 lb. 7¢ 1925 New York

Cornmeal 1 lb. 6¢ 1929 Los Angeles
Flour 5 lbs. 41¢ 1920

Flour 5 lbs. 31¢ 1925
　
　

In these present days of processed foods and bleached flours, there are still some who seek the flavor and nutritional value of freshly ground flour or corn meal. Now that grain mills come in both electric and manual forms, more people are free to learn and experiment with self-sufficient grinding practices, and more people are having opinions about them, too. Some grinders insist that steel and iron grinding parts are a better choice for use in grain mills, while others still like the extra fineness stone grinding plates often produce.
No matter what your grinding preference, remember that the options today's grain mills offer reflect the wisdom of lessons learned and the practices improved by grinders from our past.