Description

Picnic At the Mill

Silver Lake Mill, built in 1832 to grind corn into meal, has a rich history associated with the German Baptist Brethren and their Mennonite neighbors. The mill is located close to I-81 in the town of Dayton, Virginia. Burnt by General Custer in the Civil War, it was first restored in 1866 and then again more recently.

The mill at Silver Lake has been a center of community activity in Dayton, Virginia since 1822. Actively milling flour until 1996, the mill is now occupied by a gift and decorator shop. The mill was renovated in 2000-2001 for its new purpose, but much of the original structure structure has been saved or even renewed. The steel water wheel, circa 1910, has been cleaned, repainted and again turns as water from Silver Lake pours into the buckets of the wheel. The freight elevator, installed in 1920, is now used to move ceramic ware from floor to floor. The post and beam construction of the building is visible on all four levels of the mill.

2007

Image Size: 9 x 24-1/4 inches. Paper Size: 11 x 26-1/4 inches.