Miller's House

Miller's House. . Mease Houtz was the miller of the Benson Grist Mill prior to 1928. The home was located on the east corner of the north entrance to Stansbury Park. His home is described as having no electricity with light coming from oil lamps. The stove for cooking in the summertime was an oil stove and there was a player piano in the living room. The garden was on the east side of the mill where chickens and rabbits were shaded by two giant black willow trees. , John Jones became the miller in 1928. John made several improvements to the mill during his tenure using silk material for the screening process and produced white flour at the request of his Tooele Valley customers. He trained his son, Oscar, to be a miller., Oscar and his wife lived on site for a short time, but the new Mrs. Jones was accustomed to hot running water. After a brief stay, the young couple moved to Salt Lake City and Oscar commuted daily. In 1939, Oscar closed the gate to stop the flow of water and found employment at a Salt Lake mill., The present day Miller's House was built in 1987 by Tooele City resident Bob Clegg. The original restoration committee, under the direction of Jack Smith, took on the Benson Grist Mill restoration as a challenge. They patterned the present day house after the original miller's home which rested on the mill site from 1850 to 1930. The focal point of the living room is a rock fireplace built by Mel Conger and Claude Atkin with a variety of native rocks from throughout Tooele County.