THE GRIST MILL

In early days, few food items were more important to the family than corn and, especially, the meal that could be ground from it. It was hard,
slow work to pound the corn into meal by the mortar and pestle method and the grist mill was invented to shorten the process. The mill usually
 consisted of two heavy stones, with one or both, turning in such a way that grain passing between them would be crushed in to a powder form. Power was furnished by animals or, more efficiently, water. A dam or pond was built to provide enough drop in water fall so that the weight of the water would turn a wheel
which, in turn, would turn the giant grinding stones. Many of the earlier mills were built from  parts forged in Germany and Europe.

The first mill in Maury County was set up by David Love on Fountain Creek in 1806 near this (Pleasant Mount) cemetery. About the same time Bunch's Mill
was built on Rutherford Creek and in 1815 Moses Frierson set up his mill on Lick Creek. Jack Scribners Mill began operation in the 1820"s, Hardison's Mill
 and Hamner & Zellner's Mill were founded in the 1840's and George Kinzer started his mill in Sawdust in the 1850's. Stephen Dark built a mill that took his name, R. D. Ricketts built one on Big Bigby Creek near Allensville, and Andrew Mitchell built a horse drawn mill near Santa Fe. Scott's Mill was erected on Big Bigby Creek, Boston's on Carter's Creek and Kettle's on Duck River were all functioning by the 1880's.
With the coming of electric power, modern rolling mills took over in the 1900's, however, and the old family grist mills gradually ceased operation and not one of them is functioning today in Maury County. The one started on the site on Fountain Creek near here in the early 1800s by David Love ceased operation by 1940. Today a trip down to the banks of Fountain Creek finds only some relics of that time.