A Brief History of the Mill

A Brief History of the Mill. . The place of the early mill in the community is worth noticing. They were places of assembly for the scattered inhabitants of the country, where they came not only to get their wheat and corn ground, but also to hear the news, to barter, to gossip, to get that contact with their neighbors which man as a social animal requires for his happiness. Thus, mills became the nuclei of villages which grew up around them., Initially the site of a corn mill for distilling of spirits in 1811, Armstrong (Isaac) Meanor was contracted to be the millwright designer for this replacement 1831 mill building, on the farm property of Loudonville resident Isaac Wolf. Wolf's Mill (as it became to be named), was three miles north of Loudonville on Route 60. It initially served as a gristmill and then as a linen mill. The great flood of 1913 finally brought operations to a halt, and the mill was closed and abandoned. Over the decades the mill fell into further disrepair, until slated for demolition in the early 1970s for a Route 60 widening and straightening project. A local resident (Ed Pennell) purchased the mill in 1975, where he dismantled and moved it to its present Pine Run location to serve as a tourist attraction and ice cream parlor, renaming it the Pine Run Grist Mill. After Ed's passing, the State of Ohio eventually purchased the property, but due to budget cutbacks, the Mill once again began to fall into disrepair., In 2000, a grassroots effort headed by Mark Smith to restore the Mill began and is now operated as Wolf Creek Grist Mill. The three-story mill was refurbished and eventually supplied with water from Pine Run via a wooden flume, with an exterior 16-foot waterwheel, two sets of 42-inch French buhrstones, a 14-foot bull wheel, and other milling antiquities., Today the Wolf Creek Grist Mill has been restored to operating condition, and the Fromme Cabin that was moved to the property several years ago is completed and is the new welcome center. An 1880 saw mill and 7 other historic log cabins have been donated and moved to the site for restoration. Going forward the plan is for the completion of an historic village on the property, in order to preserve a vanishing part of our heritage., Once condemned and slated for demolition, the Wolf Creek Grist Mill of yesteryear has been transformed into the beautiful museum and park we know today. The buildings at Wolf Creek Grist Mill Historic Park and Museum are examples of structures that at one time were common place, but are now increasingly rare. With this part of our collective history vanishing, the Friends of the Mill organization is dedicated to preserving these rare cultural artifacts so they can be passed down for the enjoyment and education of future generations., Made possible by volunteerism, grants, donations, a money raised during our fundraisers, Wolf Creek Gristmill Historic Park and Museum will be around to serve many generations to come.