MINGUS MILL

      MINGUS MILL IN SWAIN COUNTY 

On a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina chasing waterfalls, we stopped at the Oconalufte Visitor's Center and picked up a map.  While looking on the map for directions to the Mingo Falls in the Tribal Lands of the Eastern Cherokee Nation, we spied a reference to the Mingus Mill.  Thanks to the timely directions of a Park Ranger, we found the Mill just a half mile down the road from the Visitor's Center.  What a treat?!

Built in 1886, the mill is powered by a turbine located beneath the mill.  This turbine is fed by one one of the longest mill races I have seen. It is currently a operational mill and visitors can purchase freshly ground corn from the on site miller.

The Mingus family was one of the earliest settlers in this remote mountain valley dating their presence there to the early 1700's.  It is believed that this is the second mill to operate on this site.  

This mill was constructed in 1886 by millwright Sion Thomas Early. It is operated by a rare water powered steel turbine.  Restored in 1968 by the National Park Service, the mill is operational to this day.  Visitors can watch the miller grind cornmeal. The guy operating this mill is straight out of central casting.  

The grist mill was often the center of social and commercial activity in these remote farming communities.  Farmers from miles away would travel great distances to have wheat and corn ground into meal.  This mill may have supported 200 families.

Bartering was the typical method of commercial exchange, the "Miller's Toll" was usually about 1/8th of the farmer's ground meal.  The mill site was a gathering place for trade and community.

 To operate the mill, a small dam upstream was built on Mingus creek and the water diverted along two mill races to the mill.  This mill race is made from hemlock boards. The elevated flume narrows the stream and increases the elevation drop to raise the water pressure entering the mill. Excess water is allowed to spill over the sides as the water enters through a "chunk rack" where debris is removed.

The water then flows into a "pen stock" which is a 4 foot square box.  At this point the water pressure is about 22 foot/pounds and is sufficient to turn the angled blades in the steel turbine which in turn operates an iron bar that turns the grinding stones inside the mill.

  I was unable to take a good picture of the steel turbine during my visit but found a good picture on http://blueridgemountianlife.com from which I have taken the above account of the history and operation of the Mingus mill

 The Mingus Mill is a wonderful site. The restoration of a turn of the century grist mill tells the story of the ingenuity of early settlers of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Any visit to this area of the Great Smokey Mountains should include a visit to the mountain farm and Mingus Mill as hosted by the Oconalufte Visitor Center operated by the National Park Service off NC 441 near Cherokee, NC.