Starr’s Mill

Starr's Mill, Senoia, Georgia

Olympus E-PL1 camera, Zuiko 14-42 f3.5-5.6 lens

(Click to enlarge)

One of the most beautiful, well-preserved, and visible of Georgia’s many old mills is Starr’s Mill on Whitewater Creek, about eight miles south of Fayetteville on GA Highway 85. It's also one of my very favorites.

The first mill at this location was built of logs by Hananiah Gilcoat sometime before 1825, but the name “Starr’s Mill” came from Hilliard Starr, who owned the property from 1866 to 1879. The present building was erected in 1907 and was in operation until 1959.

Like many Georgia mills, Starr’s Mill was powered by an underwater turbine rather than a visible waterwheel to grind corn and operate a sawmill.  There was also a cotton gin on the property, and in its later years, even a dynamo that produced electricity for the nearby town of Senoia. 

Just for fun, I photographed Starr's Mill with a Canon 5D Classic, an Olympus E-PL1, and a Yashica twin-lens reflex loaded with Fujichrome Provia film. The Olympus and the Canon both have12-megapixel sensors, although the Canon's sensor is much larger, and the Yashica, of course, is medium format. This time, at least, the Olympus won.

(Photograph copyright David B. Jenkins 2021)

Soli Gloria Deo

To the glory of God alone

Tags: photography, old mills, Starr's Mill, Fayetteville, GA, Senoia, GA, Olympus E-PL1 camera, Zuiko lens, Canon 5D, Yashica, twin-lens reflex