From the mill's website which is its Statement of Significance from the Nomination Form prior to being listed in the National Register of Historic Places on September 1, 1976:
Butte Creek Mill is one of two remaining water-powered mills in Oregon, and is the only mill that grinds flour (Thompson’s Mill in Shedd is water-powered, but only grinds animal feeds). The water rights for the mill and the French burr grinding stones date back to 1872. The operation of the mill, the machinery and equipment are essentially the same as in the late 1800s.
In 1872, Adronirum John Daley chose a site on the west bank of Little Butte Creek, approximately 20 miles northeast of Jacksonville and 11 miles northeast of Medford. His father, John W. Daley, Sr. and Eber Emery began construction in July, 1872. The French burr stones and milling equipment were shipped around the horn to Crescent City, California, and brought overland to Little Butte Creek, (An interesting story, that has never been substantiated, surrounds the shipment of the burr stones. Daley supposedly sent his two sons to bring the stones to Eagle Point from Crescent City by wagon. On the return trip, one of the sons was killed in an Indian attack.)
The lumber for the mill was milled from a pine stand located at Butte Falls. The first flour was ground in August, 1873. In the latter part of the 1880s, the mill stones were replaced with roller machinery. A.J. Daley was miller until 1893, when he sold the mill to the Holmes Brothers of Eagle Point.
The Holmes Brothers sold out to the Brandon Brothers in 1916, who operated it until 1920 when they went out of business and Henry Campbell (an Eagle Point banker) acquired the mill. The mill stood idle until 1932, when George Putman purchased the mill and water rights from Campbell’s widow. George and his son, Ed, built a smaller addition to the north end and opened a feed store and cold storage plant in the building. Later, George found and repaired the old grinding stones and put them back into operation. George and Ed passed away and George’s other son, Frank, took over the mill. Frank operated the mill with great success selling flour to many bakeries in the Willamette Valley. In 1973, Frank sold the mill to Peter Crandell and in 2005, Peter Crandell sold the mill to Bob & Debbie Russell, who presently own and operate the mill.