Milling

Photo by Ken Christison

Mills became a necessity to convert grains to flour and meal. It involved putting the grain in a hopper, feeding it between two stones with one rotating and one stationary, removing the flour,  sifting it though a series of screens where it's graded, and bagging it. It took skill to adjust the stones to the correct balance and spacing, because it could be difficult to keep the grain from burning and still have it finely ground.

In settled areas with flowing streams and some drop in elevation, water powered mills were common. This was true in mountainous areas like the Appalachians and in the foothills. 

In coastal areas, power to drive the mill wheels could be obtained from windmills. A few coastal towns with large tidal areas connected by narrow straits could use the movement of the tides to drive a mill. Windmills, however, were more common. They were found in the coastal plains of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Windmills could operate in steady winds of 15 to 80 m.p.h. that didn't have drastic shifts in direction.

When other forms of power came along, the force that drove the mill changed, but the problems were still similar. Today, there's great interest in the old water or wind driven mills. You're lucky if you have one in your area.

Photo by Ken Christison

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