Beck's Mill

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Beck's Mill
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Beck's Mill, before restoration
Location:	Salem, Indiana
Coordinates:	38°32′16.75″N 86°9′18.04″W / 38.5379861, -86.1550111Coordinates: 38°32′16.75″N 86°9′18.04″W / 38.5379861, -86.1550111
Area:	14 acres
Architect:	Unknown
Architectural style(s):	No Style Listed
Added to NRHP:	December 07, 1990
NRHP Reference#:	90001789^[1]
MPS:	Grain Mills in Indiana MPS
Governing body:	Friends of Beck's Mill

Beck's Mill is a historic gristmill in Washington County, Indiana in the United States. It is seven miles southwest of Salem. It was built in 1864, one year after John Hunt Morgan asked for ransom for every Washington County mill to be spared from burning. The mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It was on the list of the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana's 10 Most Endangered historic places in 2005 and 2006, but was not in 2007.^[2]

1 Geography
2 History
3 Restoration
4 Settlement
5 Beck's Mill Bridge
6 Gallery
7 References

[edit] Geography

The geography of the mill is rocky ravine surrounded by sycamores and maples. It is at one of the highest elevations in Indiana, at 946 feet above sea level.

[edit] History

The site of the mill was originally an Indian burial ground, with the Shawnee and Delaware tribes living nearby. The Indians were presumably displeased when the first white man on the land, George Beck arrived from North Carolina with his sons to the Indiana Territory in 1807, after brief stops in Kentucky. Once establishing a place to live near the future site of his mill, building a primitive shelter, he retrieved the rest of his family, who were living near Louisville, Kentucky, a few months later.^[3]

While exploring his property, Beck saw a waterfall coming out of a cave while hunting on the property. He quickly decided it would be a perfect place for a mill. This waterfall, actually a spring, is the second largest spring in Indiana.^[4] The cave is a mile-long, and provided water throughout the year. The first mill was built in 1808, and was 11' by 11' stone and log structure. Beck built a small dam uphill west of the mill, which through gravity would create a low head of pressure for water to go through wooden troughs to turn the millwheel, which was overshot. Some of the stones used for mill were buhr, and were brought to the site from Louisville.^[5]

A second mill (1825) was a frame building considerably larger than the first mill, which it replaced. A carding machine was added in 1828.

Corresponding picture, towards the end of restoration

The current mill was the third one on the property, and was the first to have two stories and furniture manufacturing. The mill in its most active years (1864-1890) ran 24 hours a day, using a turbine/waterwheel combination to turn the grindstones. Families would sometimes wait three days for their corn to be milled at Beck's, forcing a settlement by the mill. Eventually, the modern roller mills far surpassed the capability of gristmills, and urbanization made rural mills difficult to transport to in comparison, causing Beck's Mill to stop operating in 1914.^[6]

In 1963 a tornado touched down on the property, killing two people.

Of the 65 mills that operated in Washington County, it is the only one still standing, and less than 20 still stand in Indiana. However, it was placed on Indiana's 10 Most Endangered List due to water damage and trespassers, some of whom vandalized the mill. Descendants of the original owners owned the mill and the surrounding area until November 2005, when the sixth generation became willing to sell.

[edit] Restoration

Friends of Beck's Mill, a nonprofit organization, was given the 14 acres and building by Donald & Joyce Andersen (Joyce being a direct decendent of the George Beck family).This gift was the results of the efforts and negotiation of Jack Mahuron of Salem,with the hope that the mill could be saved, and maybe even become operational as the centerpiece of a local park. Jack had been working on getting this restoration for years.In June 2006, the president of the Friends, Larry Nelson, won a $1,000 door prize from the Washington County Community Foundation, an annual giveaway for use of community projects, and chose to use the $1,000 to start an Acorn Fund for the mill, creating a permanent endowment to market and operate the mill.^[7]

Sign on mill, September 2007

Jack Mahuron had served on the Board of Advisors of IU Southeast with Bill Cook a few years ago and knew that he and Gayle were interested in Beck's Mill. They had visited it several times over the years. Jack contacted him at Bloomington asking him to assist with the restoration. He graciously declined because he was busy with the restoration of French Lick and West Baden Hotels. A few months later, however, on March 1, 2007, he sent his Architect George Ridgway and his contactor Joe Pritchett of Pritchett Brothers, Bedford to a meeting of the Friends, it was announced that billionaire Bill & Gayle Cook and Son Carl would fund the restoration if we would accept.

John Hawkins, an architect from Jeffersonville, Indiana, calculated that $600,000 would be required to restore the mill, with additional funds needed to reopen it.

Donald and Joyce Andersen has since offered us the use of approximately 70 plus acres for trails and recreation. Also we are using 3 acres across the road from the mill for parking at no cost to the Friends of Beck's Mill.

Restoration of the mill began in earnest in May 2007 with Tracy Wells as foreman of the project for Pritchett brothers. The first task was to remove the old equipment, tools, and the remaining features of a general store and fabric-making, including two carding machines. The old turbines were cleaned, and the stone foundation was repaired by lifting the mill from its moorings.^[8] In September 2007 the outside work was stopped for the year. The mill workings, currently held in storage at Salem, will be re-installed in spring 2008. A grand opening of the mill is planned for later in 2008, in time for the 200th anniversary of the first Beck's Mill.

The Washington County Chamber of Commerce gave their 2007 Citizen of the Year award to the Friends, due to the restoration of the mill.^[9]

There is some fear that restoration of the mill by using cave water may affect the ecology of the cave, in particular its blind fish.^[10]

[edit] Settlement

Country store at Beck's Mill, Indiana

After the Pigeon Roost Massacre in 1812, the Becks built two forts on the property to protect against Indians, and perhaps also due to Indians stealing three barrels of whiskey from George Beck. This allowed the place to draw residents. In 1814 the settlement of Beck's Mill was in consideration to be the county seat of Washington County, only for Salem to eventually get the coveted position. Today the settlement, a few yards uphill from the mill, is the crossroad of Beck's Mill Road and Old Vincennes trail, with a former fire station and country store being its main signs of civilization. The Stage Coach stop from New Albany, Indiana was also located at the SW corner and and is still standing. An extremely old dwelling on the SE belonging to Bill and Annie Smith is being restored.

[edit] Beck's Mill Bridge

On September 20, 2007, the bridge by the mill, referred to by the NRHP as the Beck’s Mill Bridge, or Washington County Bridge # 105, was placed on the National Register separately.^[11] It's a concrete arch bridge designed by Daniel Luten, a noted engineer from Indiana known for his work on elastic theory, for arch bridges.^[12]

[edit] Gallery

South side, November 2006	South side, September 2007	Road/East side, November 2006	Road side, September 2007
North side, November 2007	North side, September 2007	Crossroads of Beck's Mill, Indiana