Mills Archives - Lost In Michigan

The Ghost Town of Waterville

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, Mills .

This old mill sits near Saranac. It is all that remains of the old town of Waterville. In 1836 Robert Hilton from Grand Rapids purchased the large tract of land and platted a village he named Waterville. Hilton believed the town would prosper from people visiting it as they traveled along the Grand River Turnpike. To help the little town prosper he gave land to James Hoag to build a mill. In 1838 Hoag opened his mill and store and it became the post office for Waterville. Unfortunately, the turnpike never came through the little town and about a year after the post office opened it was moved to Saranac. The old mill with its whimsically painted boards covering the windows still stands as a reminder of the short lived town of Waterville. Hoag continued living in Waterville and ran his mill until a tree fell on him and killed him in 1851.

Please note: I do not give the exact location of the mill because it is privately owned. If you do know where it is please be respectful and do not trespass.

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

The Old Mill in Hart

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Mills .

This old mill sits near downtown Hart near Silver Lake. The building is part of a complex of buildings that make up Hart’s Historic District. Next time you are over on the west side of the state near Pentwater and Ludington be sure to take a trip through the historic district. You can learn more at their website HERE

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend on Amazon HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

An Old Sawmill

Posted on November 6, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Mills, small towns .

While driving through the town of Blanchard this old barn looking building caught my eye. Because it’s next to a dam on a creek and it has Dewitt Lumber Co on the side I can only assume it was a sawmill. According to its website, Dewitt Lumber Company is the oldest family-owned lumber supplier in Michigan. It was started in Blanchard in 1890. It is interesting the things you find and learn on a road trip to somewhere you have never been to before.

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

The Mill Turned Into a House

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Mills .

I saw this old mill in Bellevue. I stopped and went down by the river to get this stunning view of the stonework and the river. I did not know at the time it was a house until I read the historical marker.

Horatio Hall built this mill for Manlius Mann in 1854. Powered by water from the Battle Creek, a three-ton overshot waterwheel in the basement turned three pairs of millstones that ground grain from local farmers into flour. Before vertical grain elevators came into use, a rope hoist in the western roof peak lifted grain to the appropriate level. It was manually pulled through the corresponding vertical door to be processed. Grain products produced here included corn meal, bran, white whole wheat and biscuit flour. In 1873 Mann sold the mill to Hiram Ovenshire and Danial D. Gardiner. Ovenshire became the sole owner in 1881. Around 1888, to increase replaced the millstones with steel roller mills and the waterwheel with two forty-three-horsepower turbines.

The Bellevue Gothic Mill produced many flour products and brands, including Blue Bird flour, marketed by Abraham Butler, a former dry goods store owner. By 1929 the mill yielded up to sixty barrels of Blue Bird flour per day. In 1949 this was the only mill within a fifty-mile radius that still produced flour. Hiram Overshire’s descendants, whose surnames included Ovenshire, Hollenbeck and Butler, owned the mill until it closed in 1975. In 1977 the Stockhausen family purchased the property. They restored the exterior and renovated the interior for an adaptive reuse as a private residence. In 1982 they installed two hydroelectric generators in the basement, allowing them to supply renewable power to the community.

I found this video on Youtube about the renovation of the old mill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnDWibKuH2E

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend on Amazon HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.