The Old Mill
and the
Covered Bridge
The water wheel on themill in Carillon Park isan example of the“overshot” type ofwheel, in the operationof which the watercomes down over thewheel from above. Asthe water strikes thepaddles or pockets, thewheel turns, and withit the mill machinery.
Until it was moved toCarillon Park, this CoveredBridge was indaily use southeast ofDayton. It was on theFeedwire Road andspanned little SugarCreek about one mileeast of Wilmington Pike.Neither the largest northe smallest of Ohiobridges, this one is typicalof the medium-sizedstructure. It is 55 feetlong and 14 feet wide.
The old grist mill and the covered bridge are links withAmerica’s past which, even today, have not passed entirely fromthe scene. Each was a part of the fabric of our young and growingnation and each made its own contribution to our progress.
By today’s standards, the old grist mill, driven by water-power andwith everything except its grinding stones made of wood, is somewhatprimitive. Yet even today, one must admire the fine craftsmanship withwhich the water wheels and the various wheels and shafts which transmittedthe power were fashioned.
The old mills, and particularly the grist mill, marched with the pioneerwho wrested the wilderness from savage beast and Indian. It isdebatable whether the grist mill or the saw mill had priority in ourproductive history. But it is altogether likely that the grist mill came firstin construction, with the meeting house a close second. The Bible andthe plow, and sometimes the rifle, always advanced together. “To milland to meeting” was an old-time admonition.
The covered bridge, battered by time and tempest, is bound up inhistory and geared to the march of events. Washington and his menclattered over many a covered bridge. The floors of scores of them resoundedwith the hoof-beats of the caravans that moved westward andsouthward to bring the invigorating breath of civilization to virgin areas.Those that survive are mute reminders of a unique craftsmanship andthe sturdy qualities of our early builders.
The grist mill represents a pioneer American industry with a charmand picturesqueness all its own. We are so absorbed in the tumult ofmass output that we scarcely realize the part played by the old mills inrearing the cornerstone of our vast industrial activity. The phrase,“horse power,” now geared to myriad millions of units, in all likelihood,began with the horse-operated grist mill. A horse provided the power.The creaking water wheels with their rhythmic splash, were the outpostsof the hydroelectric age which has harnessed rivers and falls andwrought marvels of production the world over.
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