Beck's Mill

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Beck's Mill

Beck's Mill, located in Washington County, Indiana, seven miles southwest of Salem, was an old gristmill. It was built in 1864, one year after John Hunt Morgan asked for ransom for every Washington County mill to be spared from burning. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It is now one of Indiana's 10 Most Endangered historic places.[1]

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. Part of the ground was an Indiana burial ground, which the local Shawnee and Delaware could not have been happpy about seeing a white settlement there. After the Pigeon Roost Massacre in 1812, two forts were built on the property by the Becks to protect against Indians, perhaps also built due to Indians stealing three barrels of whiskey from George Beck. When George Beck saw a waterfall coming out of a cave while hunting on the property he acquired in 1807, he saw that it would be a perfect place for a mill.

The current mill was the third one on the property. The first one built in 1808 by George Beck Sr. was a mere 15 square feet. The second one (1825) was a frame building considerably larger. The third was the first to have two stories, as well as a carding machine and furniture manufacturing.

The mill in its heyday 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 rurals mills difficult to transport to in comparison, causing Beck's Mill to stop operating in 1914.

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, vandals, and overly-enthusiastic trespassers. Descendants of the original owners owned the mill and the surrounding area until November of 2005, when the sixth generation became willing to sell. Friends of Beck's Mill, a nonprofit organization, bought the property, totalling fourteen acres, and are hoping the mill can be saved, and maybe even become operational as the centerpiece of a local park.