Graue Mill - Oak Brook, Illinois
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 41° 49.229 W 087° 55.652
16T E 422968 N 4630260
Historic grist mill and currently the only operating waterwheel grist mill in Illinois located in Oak Brook, a suburb of Chicago.
Waymark Code: WM1FP2
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 04/28/2007
Views: 50
History of mill:
"Frederick Graue was born in Germany, came to the United States and
settled in Fullersburg, Illinois. He purchased land and began to build a
waterwheel gristmill. It took five years to construct using bricks made from
clay taken from the Graue farm and fired in a kiln near the site, and white oak
timbers cut from a tract along the I & M canal near Lemont. The four huge
one-ton buhrstones used for grinding were imported from the coast of France. The
large gristmill was finished in 1852 and was used to grind the wheat, corn and
other grains produced by local farmers.
The mill was a major center of economic life during the 19th century and
was also used by Fred Graue to hide runaway slaves on their journey to freedom
in Canada. President Abraham Lincoln reportedly visited Graue Mill during a trip
from Chicago to Springfield. Three generations of the Graue family operated the
mill for 60 years until modern milling methods rendered the old mill obsolete
and the building was abandoned.
The building was eventually added to the properties of the DuPage County
Forest Preserve District. In 1934, it was decided to restore the mill to the
period of 1852-1868, the time the waterwheel was in operation. The restoration
was completed in 1943 but was not maintained. In 1950, the mill property was
leased to the DuPage Graue Mill Corporation, an organization formed by local
residents, who repaired the waterwheel and gear system and opened the museum.
Graue Mill was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in May
1975. And in 1981 was recognized as an Illinois Historic Mechanical Engineering
Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers -- the only gristmill
so designated on a national or local level, representative of an important
technology and era in the history of America." ~
Graue Mill
website
The mill and museum is open from mid-April through mid-November, hours are
10:00 am - 4:30 pm, closed Mondays. The mill has a gift shop where corn meal
ground at the mill is available for purchase.