Wake Wednesday - Milling in Wake County

I am fascinated by the interconnectivity of early historic water mills in the thread of survival that runs through the story of Wake County from days of our early settlers up until the not so distant past. Much of this story has been erased in the repeated rounds of growth, development and building frenzies that Wake has experienced from the late 70's until today.  Sadly, in our county, there is only one mill active today and only partial remains of one other.

As the colonial settlers of Wake County carved out homes and communities, they had to meet several high priority needs to do so. Highest on this list were shelter, a water source, fields to grow their food and roads to barter, trade and sell the products of their labor. 

Time passed and progress happened.  Mills became as important as these basic needs in order to prosper and flourish. Mills, from early days right up until the very recent past fueled the economy of Wake County at both a micro and macro level.As the county expanded and demand surged, these mills catered to the supply of food products and lumber, meeting needs within the vicinity and beyond. 

The span of the 1800s through the first third of the 1900s found Wake County heavily populated with many mills. In this clip of the Fendol Bevers map of Wake from 1871, you can count no less than eight mills in the House Creek Township (a ninth, if you are sharp and enlarge the map to its full size and look just over the township boundary at the upper right.) Of course, all water mills had to be situated on the rivers and streams that were so important to early settlers, but they also drove the creation of roads for connection and trade. In later years, mill sites also figured heavily in where the railroad lines would run. 

Fendol Bevers Map of Wake County 1871

Yates Mill (source)

If you too, are fascinated with mills and their impact on early settlements and communities, you will want to read this thesis on the History of Milling by Leslie Hawkins Meadows. Her work includes information on the various types of mills, their importance in the community and highlights the last three mills extant in our memories if not our landscape - Yates (the only one still in operation, Lassiter (only the dam remains) and Lake Myra Mill (which fell into disrepair in the 1990's and collapsed).

Meadows' detailed examination of the mills and their history appears in five parts on the Yates Mill website and includes sources and an extensive bibliography. You can access it here. I promise you won't regret the read!

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