Inside Mingus Grist Mill

by Priscilla Burgers

Title

Inside Mingus Grist Mill

Artist

Priscilla Burgers

Medium

Photograph - Photography- Digital Art

Description

Image is a painterly rendition of the inner workings of Mingus Grist Mill at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Located at its original site, Mingus Mill stands as a tribute to the test of time. Inside, the miller demonstrates the process of grinding corn into cornmeal. Cornmeal and other mill-related items are available for purchase at the mill.

Mingus Mill was built in 1886 by the millwright Sion Thomas Early of Sevier County, Tennessee. Early did the work for John Mingus, a son of John Jacob Mingus. Early completed the mill in three months for a cost of $600. The mill operated at wholesale and retail levels until the National Park Service purchased the property in 1934. The mill was restored in 1937, closed during World War II, and reopened in 1968. Aden Carver, who arrived in Oconaluftee in the mid-19th century, helped Early build the mill in 1886. When the mill was restored in 1937, Carver, then in his 90s, aided in its restoration.

Water diverted from Mingus Creek via a sluice (canal) and a wooden flume turns two turbines which provide power to the mill. An iron shaft connects the turbines to grindstones on the first floor and a wheat cleaner and bolting chest on the second floor (the last two via a series of pulleys). Wheat or corn is first transported by bucket belt to the wheat cleaner, which is basicly a fan which clears the grain of dirt and excess material, and then drops it back to the first floor. The cleaned grain is then fed into the grindstones, which break it down into flour (or cornmeal). The flour is then transported back to the second floor and fed into the bolting chest, which uses bolts of progressively coarser cloth to separate the flour into different grades.

While the mill's turbine is not as photogenic as the overshot wheels that power mills such as the Cable Mill at Cades Cove, it was more efficient and required less water power to operate. The turbine generated approximately 11 horsepower (8.2 kW) turning at 400 rpm.


FAA Featured Photo:
- Excellent Self-Taught Artists Group-9/04/2013
- Abc Group - 11/24/2018

Uploaded

September 3rd, 2013

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