Ripley

Ripley. McGrew, also, Hood Grist Mill. , In 1824, Jacob Starcher built the first grist mill in Ripley, along Mill Creek. In 1853, Jacob Sayre sold the mill to John McGrew, who came to Jackson County in 1844., The McGrew Mill building was a structure of about 40 ft. by 30 ft. and was two and one-half stories high. The mill furnished flour, feed, meal and buckwheat, which were important staples of the day., On September 3, 1862, General Albert Jenkins and his Confederate Cavalry passed through on his raid of central western Virginia. They looted the mill, dumping excess barrels of flour, which they couldn't carry with them, into the stream. The McGrew Mill was raided by both armies during the war. As the Civil War progressed, the violence against McGrew from each side steadily increased., If you look at the bridge on the far end and the left side, you can still see some of the foundation stones of the grist mill., The final straw for McGrew was when soldiers roughed up the workers and broke the steam engine that powered it when the water level was too low to operate the mill. During the final years of the war, he sold the mill to his son-in-law, D.K. Hood, who later changed the name from McGrew Mill to Valley Mill., The Hoods renovated and enlarged the facility which remained in the family until its closing in 1930.