Old Grist Mills
Old Grist Mills – A Gristmill is a facility where grain is ground into
animal feed or flour. Gristmills were vital to the
development of the Midwest. Without them the early
settlers would not have been able to feed themselves
or their livestock. Since every settler had to journey to
the mill, they were a hub of many activities where
families exchanged news and socialized. At one time
Iowa had 500 gristmills.
We found this mill in Iowa in a town named Lime Springs. I took this photo last week when I was visiting my sister. We went for a drive, which I love to do. Never know what one might find in the small towns of Iowa.
Grist is grain that has been ground or is in the process
of being ground. It may or not be bolted (sifted) into flour
or ground further. Grist is any material that is being
processed by a mill.
Below is Pine Creek Mill in Muscatine Iowa, I photographed this one years ago. They were such an important part of life back in the day. I find the history of how things were made so interesting now, amazing the innovative ideas people have come up with to make life easier in some ways.
Old Grist Mills
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
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19 Replies to “Old Grist Mills”
Beautiful!
Thank you very much 😊
Grist was a term I wasn’t familiar with even though I grew up on an Iowa farm. My wife’s family in Pennsylvania talked about taking grain to town to make grist. Actually while dating I did bag up some grain to take to the “feed mill.” In Iowa we called it a feed mill! Enjoy the rest of your week.
Thank you for sharing Marland. A wonderful week for you also.
These photos are picturesque Sandra – the leaves, the water, waterfall and grist mill – very beautiful.
Thank you very much Linda. 😊
Beautiful and interesting, Sandra.
Thank you very much Mary.
I love these, Sandra! We have a lot of cotton gins around us, but they’re not pretty like the grist mills.
It is nice when towns keep them nice looking like these. Takes a lot of volunteer work 🙂
I like the mill with the snow gently falling. Too bad it’s a preview of the weather we all (northerners at least) can expect in a few short weeks.
Yes, I do love a nice soft snowfall. 🙂 even though I have not seen one in a couple of years.
What a great post, Sandra! Thanks so much for sharing this historical narrative and these wonderful photos.
You are very welcome, thank you 😊
How nice to see that this mill is kept in such a good shape. 500 grist mills is a lot ! We have also water mills in Belgium, they wher used to produce flour for bread (just like the windmills we have). Thanks Sandra for sharing these pictures.
You are so very welcome, thank you and have a great day 🙂
Beautiful photos!
Thank you very much 🙂
You’re welcome! Have a great day.