Gray's Mill in the early 1970s. Sitting in serene
beauty by its dam on Chickamauga Creek.
When we moved from Miami to Chattanooga in 1970, our new home, while in Tennessee, was only a mile or so from the village of Graysville, Georgia. The old mill, just on the other side of Chickamauga Creek from the village soon became a favorite destination for our walking, biking, or picnic excursions.
The village was laid out in the 1840s by John Gray, the English-born contractor who built the Western and Atlantic Railroad and dug the tunnel at Tunnel Hill. He liked the Northwest Georgia area so much that he bought 4,000 acres on Chickamauga Creek. He built the Queen Anne-style Gray House, dammed the creek, and built a large, three-story mill. The mill was burned during the Civil War, but was rebuilt in 1869 and continued to operate into the 1950s.
In the early '70s the mill was still pretty much intact. I
made some photos of the interior, which are, unfortunately, in storage, but I
seem to remember three milling stations with millstones approximately eight
feet in diameter. A very impressive operation.
The ruins of the mill after it was burned, possibly by vandals.
The mill burned again in the late '70s. Possibly the work of
vandals, or, it could have been picnickers or campers who let their fire get out of
control. The heavy plank floors and massive wooden beams would have burned like
tinder.
After the passage of some years, the site was purchased and an unique, three-story house was built on the ruin, using the mill foundation and many of the original stones.
Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.
I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.
Soli Gloria Deo
For the glory of God alone
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