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19th Century Indiana Grist Mills - Bibliography

A Note Regarding Resources: Items are listed on this page that enhance work with the topic discussed. Some older items, especially, may include dated practices and ideas that are no longer generally accepted. Resources reflecting current practices are noted whenever possible

Selected Readings

Doggett, Denzil. “Water-Powered Mills of Flat Rock River.” Indiana Magazine of History. Volume XXXII,No. 4. December, 1936.

Fox, Jim. “The Metamora Gristmill, Metamora, Indiana” Old Mill News. Vol. XVI, No. 2. Spring, 1988.
This article gives a brief history of one of Indiana’s grist mills.

McCauley, David. Mill. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1983.
This is a delightful fictional account of the construction and working of a mill, although not a grist mill. The illustrations are wonderful and help to explain further the basic workings of any mill.

Maginley, C.J. Historic Models of Early America and How to Make Them. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. 1947.
Complete directions are given to construct your own model of a grist mill complete with waterwheel. For model enthusiasts only!

Nolan, Jane and Weintraut, Linda. Follow the Old Mill Stream.
Slides of Indiana mills with text and activity guide may be borrowed from the Indiana Historical Bureau or the Indiana Humanities Council. (Available 1992.)

Sloane, Eric. Diary of An American Boy. New York: Wilfred Funk, Inc. 1962.
The diary is fiction but based on everyday life of America long ago, and of course includes grist mills.

_______ Our Vanishing Landscape. New York: Wilfred Funk, Inc. 1955.
Sloane includes a brief but very informative section concerning mills.

Tunis, Edwin. Colonial Craftsmen and the Beginnings of American Industry. Cleveland: The World Publishing Company. 1965.

__________ Frontier Living. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. 1961.

__________ The Young United States. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. 1969.
The Tunis books contain wonderful drawings of early Americana, including grist and saw mills, with easy to understand explanations.

Woodliff, D.A. “By the Old Mill Stream.” Cobblestone. April, 1982.
This entire issue of Cobblestone is devoted to grain and its processing.

Visit a mill

Listed below are three mills which are operational and are opened to the public. There are other private mills in Indiana and it is sometimes possible to make arrangements to visit them.

Bonneyville Mill is located two and one-half miles southeast of Bristol, Indiana, on County Road 131, south of State Road 120. The mill is operated by the Elkhart County Department of Parks and Recreation.

Hamer Mill is a reconstructed site in Lawrence County and is part of Spring Mill State Park, located on State Road 60, three miles east of Bedford, Indiana.

Metamora Mill is located in the restored town of Metamora, about seven miles west of Brookville in Franklin County.

Entire Issue

19th Century Indiana Grist Mills