Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Syd Whittle
Taken: April 26, 2009
Caption: Community Gathering Spot
Additional Description: Interpretive panel on the trail to the mill.
Grist mills were central to early American agriculture. Thomas Jefferson wrote to a friend, “…there is no neighborhood in any part of the United States without a water grist mill for grinding the corn of the neighborhood.” The 1840 census showed 23,661 small mills operating on a toll basis – the miller earning a percentage of the grain – and serving a U.S. population of 17 million.

A mill became a community social center. Farmers brought in grains (grist) and stayed to exchange market news of gossip, Good will came with grinding a neighbor’s grist, and all the miller’s customers were neighbors. The miller became prominent to the community, building a business to be handed down for generations.

The Bale Mill’s granary was used for more than storage. Its size and closeness to the valley’s main roads made it ideal for meetings, social gatherings, and even dances.
Submitted: May 4, 2009, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.
Database Locator Identification Number: p62027
File Size: 2.792 Megabytes

To see the metadata that may be embedded in this photo, sign in and then return to this page.