George Yount's Millstones

George Yount's Millstones. . George Yount, American frontiersman, was born in North Carolina in 1794. When he was 10 years old Yount moved with his family to Missouri and in 1831 he came to California. Yount received a large tract of land in the Napa Valley from the Mexican government in 1836, known as Rancho Caymus. , About 1843 Yount built a flour mill on this land grant, near the Napa River, just one-half mile northeast of present day Yountville. Yount's mill was the first in the Napa Valley. The waterwheel driving two pairs of millstones powered the Star of the Pacific Mill. The mill was capable of producing 30 barrels (5880 lbs) of flour a day. , Yount used this surviving pair of millstones at the Star of the Pacific Mill. These millstones, composed of fresh water quartz, from a quarry in the Marne Valley outside of Paris, France were the highest quality available and sought by flour mills throughout our country. , After George Yount's death in 1865, Frederick Ellis, a miller by trade from New York, continued operation of the mill after he purchased it from Yount's Estate in 1870. The original account ledger show the mill was still in use in 1892. , Martha Hussey, great-granddaughter of Frederick Ellis, donated these millstones. They are on permanent loan from the Napa County Historical Society.