Cherokee in Swain County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Mingus Mill

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Photographed by Tom Bosse, November 6, 2021

1. Mingus Mill Marker

Inscription. You didn't make it without corn....everyone ate cornmeal, sometimes two and three times a day. -George Moore, local resident

For 50 years, nearby farmers brought their corn and wheat to Mingus Mill, built in 1886. The miller usually charged a toll of one-eighth of the grain the customer brought for milling. The gristmill's stone was turned by a water-powered, cast-iron turbine. From water pressure built up in the penstock at the flume's end, the turbine generated 11 horsepower—enough to run all the mill's machinery. On the second floor, the smut machine blew wheat grain free of debris, while the bolting chest separated ground wheat into grades by sifting it through fine to coarse bolts of cloth.

(captions)
Mingus was the largest gristmill in the Smokies. Its 200-foot-long wooden flume brings water to the mill's turbine. As early as the 1820s, more progressive millers began using turbines to power their mills rather than waterwheels.

The Mingus family sold the mill to the National Park Service in the 1930s.

Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1886.

Location. 35° 31.208′ N, 83° 18.59′ W. Marker is in Cherokee, North Carolina, in Swain County. It can be reached from U.S. 441 1.4 miles north of Blue Ridge Parkway, on the left when traveling north. Located along the Mingus Creek Trail. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Cherokee NC 28719, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Mountains and specifically in the Great Smoky Mountains.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A different marker also