Core in Monongalia County, West Virginia — The American South (Appalachia)
Shanks Mill
Photographed By Craig Doda, September 25, 2020
1. Shanks Mill Marker
Inscription.
Shanks Mill. . Across Dunkard Creek from Mason-Dixon Historical Park and Ripley Run Road, a grist and sawmill existed for 106 years, a center of community activity and commerce. The mill was built by Abraham Brown and is remembered as Shanks Mill after its last owner.
. 1772: Michael Core settled at the future mill site. (Five years after Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon made their last boundary marker nearby on top of Brown's Hill, and four years before the Revolutionary War began, A solid stone creek bottom made a fording place there that was long known as Widow Core's Ford.)
.1815: Michael Core died (43 years later). His son-in-law Abraham Brown acquired the property and constructed a flour mill.
. 1863: Abraham's son John Brown sold to Daniel Tennant, who expanded the mill's operations (48 years later, the year West Virginia became a state).
. 1868: Tennant sold to Isaac Core, who operated the mill as Core's Mill (five years later, 9-7-1868).
. 1871: Isaac Core sold it to Benjamin Core (three years later, 11-20-1871), who employed Leonard Shanks.
. 1884: Benjamin and Edgar W. Core sold the property to Leonard Shanks (11 years later, 6-5-1884),
. 1884-1921: Shanks operated the mill for 37 years. The last mill in the area, it was then dismantled.
. 1920: A.B. Price and Shanks each held an undivided one-half interest in the acreage. The property was s urveyed by G.F. Headley and the mill site ended up on Price's half, which his daughter Victoria Price Randolph inherited in 1934 and sold to William E. and Ona Pyles Lemley in December 1934. Sometime after the 1960s, someone moved the massive millstones from the creek bank to the adjacent field.
. 1982: The heirs of Roy S. Lemley inherited the property and millstones. Cam Lemley asked them to donate the millstones to Mason-Dixon Historical Park. They were placed at the park in 1996. The mill property was later sold to the Webber family.
. Today: In the creek bottom one timber still remains of the dam shown above.
Millstones donated by: Lorene Ammons Lemley Priest, Wilma Jean Lemley Furman, Charles Albert Lemley, David Roy Lemley, and Lois Elaine Lemley Corbin Compiled by Betty L. Wiley from information in The Chronicles of Core by Dr. Earl L. Core.
Across Dunkard Creek from Mason-Dixon Historical
Park and Ripley Run Road, a grist and sawmill existed
for 106 years, a center of community activity and commerce. The mill was built by Abraham Brown and is remembered as Shanks Mill after its last owner.
• 1772: Michael Core settled at the future mill site.
(Five years after Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon
made their last boundary marker nearby on top of
Brown's Hill, and four years before the Revolutionary
War began, A solid stone creek bottom made a fording
place there that was long known as Widow Core's Ford.)
•1815: Michael Core died (43 years later). His son-in-law Abraham Brown acquired the property and constructed a flour mill.
• 1863: Abraham's son John Brown sold to Daniel Tennant, who expanded the mill's operations (48 years
later, the year West Virginia became a state).
• 1868: Tennant sold to Isaac Core, who operated the mill as Core's Mill (five years later, 9-7-1868).
• 1871: Isaac Core sold it to Benjamin Core (three years later, 11-20-1871), who employed Leonard Shanks.
• 1884: Benjamin and Edgar W. Core sold the property to Leonard Shanks (11 years later, 6-5-1884),
• 1884-1921: Shanks operated the mill for 37 years. The last mill in the area, it was then dismantled.
• 1920: A.B. Price and Shanks each held an undivided
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one-half interest in the acreage. The property was
s urveyed by G.F. Headley and the mill site ended up on Price's half, which his daughter Victoria Price
Randolph inherited in 1934 and sold to William E. and Ona Pyles Lemley in December 1934. Sometime after
the 1960s, someone moved the massive millstones from the creek bank to the adjacent field.
• 1982: The heirs of Roy S. Lemley inherited the property and millstones. Cam Lemley asked them to donate
the millstones to Mason-Dixon Historical Park. They were placed at the park in 1996. The mill property was
later sold to the Webber family.
• Today: In the creek bottom one timber still remains of the dam shown above.
Millstones donated by: Lorene Ammons Lemley Priest,
Wilma Jean Lemley Furman, Charles Albert Lemley, David Roy Lemley, and Lois Elaine Lemley Corbin
Compiled by Betty L. Wiley from information in The Chronicles of Core by Dr. Earl L. Core.
Location. 39° 42.832′ N, 80° 6.825′ W. Marker is in Core, West Virginia, in Monongalia County. Marker is on Buckeye Road (County Route 39), on the left when traveling east. On the grounds of the Mason-Dixon Historical Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Maidsville WV 26541, United States of America. Touch for directions.
5. Dedication plaque at Mason-Dixon Historical Park
Credits. This page was last revised on May 23, 2022. It was originally submitted on January 18, 2021, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 298 times since then and 30 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on January 18, 2021, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. 4, 5. submitted on April 27, 2022, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
