Alcovy Road Grist Mill - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Text taken from "Freeman's Mill Micro" (GCHQB3)


In 2001, the county purchased Freeman's Mill and 12 acres of land surrounding it for the purpose of creating a historic park site. The mill building itself is being stabilized, and beginning in 2005, work will start on the park's development. This cache will get you familiar with the location in preparation of the opening of the historic park in the coming years.

Have a fun and safe cache hunt!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Information on the Mill:

Freeman's Mill was the first purchase for Gwinnett County with funds available through the Georgia Greenspace Program. Gwinnett was allocated $3.3 million for land purchases in the first year of the program. The mill and the 12 adjoining acres along the Alcovy River were purchased for $350,000 from Dr. and Mrs. Julian Swann. The mill had been "in and out of both sides of my family since the War Between the States," Dr. Swann stated.

The mill had been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1996. Some say that it was constructed between 1868 and 1879, though others say it produced meal during the Civil War. In 1880, the manufacturing census found that it produced corn meal and flour, amounting to 54,000 pounds of feed annually. Its 36" corn stones, weighed in at about 1,000 pounds each.

Originally, the mill was built by a Loveless family, on land they farmed east of Lawrenceville.

The mill was last operated by Darrell Tuck in 1986. Mr. Tuck, who still lives near the mill on Alcovy Mill Road, helped to refurbish much of the mill. He changed its overshot waterwheel into a breast wheel, that is, water entering the wheel middle way.

The heavy timbers of the mill are still in good condition, Dwight Williams feels. Mr. Williams, who lives off Highway 29, had his corn ground there when the mill was last in use.

Visiting there, you could hear that waterwheel groaning as it turned slowly, powering the revolving mill stones, while the corn was fed into a hopper, and ground every so finely, all held up by the large pine beams. It was a fascinating place for a youngster.

Street address: 1564 Alcovy Rd Dacula, GA County / Borough / Parish: Gwinnett Year listed: 1998 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1850-1874, 1875-1899, 1900-1924, 1925-1949 Historic function: Industry/Processing/Extraction: Manufacturing Facility Current function: Vacant/Not In Use Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   09/18/2010 megan.e.arlitz visited it 09/18/2010 megan.e.arlitz visited it 08/28/2006 ChapterhouseInc visited it

View all visits/logs