The Glade Creek Grist Mill
Babcock State Park, West Virginia
#NC-05160-GM - Notecards
Also available in Notecard Assortment Pack #AST-600
#PR-05160-GM - Open Edition Print with double mat
Also included in unmatted Print Set #PST-600
Constructed
in 1976 as a living monument to the more than 500 mills that thrived
in West Virginia at the beginning of the 20th century, this fully
operable mill still provides freshly ground cornmeal and buckwheat
flour that park visitors may purchase. This mill was built in
honor of Cooper's Mill, which ground grain on Glade Creek long
before Babcock became a state park. The original mill stood on
the present location of the park's administration building parking
lot.
Although the
Glade Creek Grist Mill is considered a new mill, it was creating
largely from parts of several old mills from throughout the state.
The basic structure came from the Stoney Grist Mill, dating back
to 1890. It was dismantled and moved piecemeal from a spot near
Campbelltown in Pocahontas County. The overshot water wheel came
from the Spring Run Grist Mill near Petersburg in Grant County.
This wheel was the only salvageable item after a fire destroyed
that mill. Still other parts of the Glade Creek Grist Mill were
extracted from the Onego Grist Mill near Seneca Rocks in Pendleton
County.
Glade Creek
Grist Mill is one of the most photographed spots in the West Virginia
state park system. Shutterbugs visiting Babcock State Park also
appreciate the trout stream flowing through a boulder-strewn canyon
and the mountain views from several scenic overlooks. The 4,127-acre
park is located in Fayette County in south central West Virginia.
Text
© 2000 Terry White, Drawing © 2000 Bill Harrah