The Mills of Rabun County, Georgia

Barker's Creek Mill

Canon EOS 6D, Canon 17-35 f2.8L lens

(Click to enlarge)

I guess it's no secret by now that I love old mills. Georgia has a good number of them scattered around the state; some in remarkably good condition, and many still in operation on a limited basis. Rabun County in the northeast corner of the state is home to four mills, with three of them in good condition and easy to find.

Barker's Creek Mill on Betty's Creek Road, to my mind the most beautiful, was built in 1940. Powered by a 12-foot overshot wheel, it still operating and grinding meal on the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Silvan Falls Mill, on Taylor’s Chapel Road, was built in 1840 of locally milled “wormy chestnut.” The original wheel was replaced in 1952 with a 27-foot overshot wheel that is one of the larger ones in the country, although not as large as the 42-foot wheel at the Berry College mill near Rome. Fed from springs atop Black Rock Mountain, water is channeled  from a small waterfall to power the wheel. The mill has been converted into a bed and breakfast inn, but the owners still grind a variety of grains for meal, grits, and flour. 

The Bell Gristmill was built by C.B. Bell in the 1920s near Coweta, North Carolina. It was moved to the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center at Mountain City in 1972 and restored to working condition. Foxfire is open Monday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Warwoman Creek Mill

Olympus OM-D E-M5, Panasonic Lumix 14-140 f3.5-5.6 II lens

These are all great mills, however, the one that tugs at my heart is the remote, obscure, nearly gone, little Warwoman Creek Mill on John Houck Road east of Dillard. I've been unable to find who built it, or when. I photographed the mill in 2016, and only a fragment of the small, overshot wheel remained at that time. The walls were sagging and the roof was falling in. If it's still standing, it won't be for much longer. 

Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2021

Soli Gloria Deo

To the glory of God alone 

Tags: photography, old mills, Rabun County, Georgia, Foxfire Museum, Black Rock Mountain, Warwoman Creek, Canon EOS 6D, Canon 17-35 f2.8L lens, Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera, Panasonic Lumix G-Vario 14-140 f3.5-5.6 II lens