After more than three years, the grist mill in Spring Mill State Park is again grinding corn.
It was October 2021 when the mill at the center of the state park’s Pioneer Village quit working. The shaft that harnesses power from the water wheel outside and transfers it through gears to the granite grinding stone cracked. It had been last replaced in 1953, according to park manager Mark Young.
“It is just amazing how upset people were that this was down,” Young said, talking about visitors to the village who wanted to watch corn being ground that they could then purchase.
In addition to the shaft, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources replaced the water wheel and the first gear, also called the king gear or great cog wheel. The other gears from a previous renovation project were in good shape and not replaced, Young said.
With the project now complete, Young watched as the grist mill ground corn, saying, “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime project. I was glad to see it.”
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How the grist mill was rebuilt
The mill building in the Pioneer Village at Spring Mill State Park on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
The original grist mill was built in 1817 and is in the center of the restored Pioneer Village that portrays life from the year 1863. Ben Hassett, a millwright from Louisville, built the new shaft and gear so they would fit with the other gears that were renovated in the mid 1980s.
The shaft was formed from a large white oak tree harvested from Morgan-Monroe State Forest that was identified by staff with the Division of Forestry. It’s one piece of wood that was finish-cut to 26.5 feet in length. At its widest point it’s 30 inches in diameter. The whole shaft was shaped to be a decagon, with 10 sides.
“It’s amazing how Ben was able to line everything up,” Young said, watching the grist mill operate. He said it’s now quieter, with fewer pops and creaks, when it’s turning.
In addition to the shaft and gears, the flume that transports water from Hamer Cave uphill of the village was replaced. PVC pipes were used in place of steel ones. Wood harvested from trees downed by a tornado that hit McCormick’s Creek State Park was used to make the wood planks that hide the pipes.
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Starting the grist mill for grinding corn
Recently, volunteer Bill Edwards started the grinding process: First, he pulls the metal lever on the wall that opens the chute gate, allowing water to flow to the 24-foot wheel just outside. As the water hits the wheel, it begins to turn and groan as the gears start turning inside the mill.
As the gears pick up speed, corn drops from a chute into the center of the millstone, the corn is ground between a lower stationary bedstone and the top millstone that rotates clockwise. Soon, ground corn flies out the bottom-side chute into a metal box.
Bill Edwards uses a wooden lever to get the water flowing as he gets the grist mill at Spring Mill State Park in operation on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
From there, Edwards uses a wooden shovel to place the ground corn in another box where he carefully fills 2-pound bags available for purchase.
The corn ground at the mill is purchased from Fischer Food Grade in Shelbyville. Most orders are for 100 50-pound bags, Young said, adding, “We sell about 2 tons of cornmeal each year.”
When will the grist mill be operating and how much does the cornmeal cost?
Spring Mill State Park’s grist mill will grind on the hour every Friday, Saturday and Sunday now through mid-October. The Pioneer Village is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.
A 2-pound paper bag of cornmeal is $4. A 2-pound plastic bag sold inside a cloth bag are $6 each.
The Spring Mill Inn uses the cornmeal in its recipes. Be sure to ask if they have cornmeal pie on the menu.
Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Spring Mill State Park grist mill restored operating again in Indiana