 |
Old River Mill - Revisit Union County, GA - November 2020 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2020) |
|
Old River Mill - Revisit Union County, GA - November 2020 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2020) |
| I first explored the remains of the Old River Mill in Union Co. in July 2020. With the thick summer undergrowth and leaves, I said at that time that I needed to return in the winter. Although not yet winter, a cloudy November day saw good conditions for a revisit. Unfortunately, there had been some adverse changes since July. The site is on private property, and someone had been doing some clearing work near the old mill. They obviously have no interest in local history, since uprooted trees were now dumped into what was once the interior of the old mill. Additionally, heavy machinery had bulldozed part of the old stone foundation and steps on the east side. Finally, the large example of textile machinery that was there earlier is now gone. |
|
 |
|
| Panorama of the remaining stone foundations of the Old River Mill, taken from the river side. Note all the uprooted trees dumped into the interior area between the mill's foundations. |
|
 |
|
| Stone wall and some of the mill's foundation piers. |
|
 |
|
| Foundation piers - north side of structure |
|
 |
|
| Some wooden structure... |
|
 |
|
| Wooden structure below a foundation pier. |
|
 |
|
| The tree debris dumped into the interior of the old mill is visible in many of these images. |
|
 |
|
| Looking at south end of structure |
|
 |
|
| Foundation pier on south end |
|
 |
|
| Pier and walls |
|
 |
|
| Another wide-angle view of the ruins... |
|
 |
|
| This concrete foundation was probably for a later addition to the original mill. |
|
 |
|
| Breached end of old mill dam. |
|
 |
|
| View across river at remains of mill dam |
|
 |
|
| Adjacent building that housed the turbine generator. It was installed next to the mill in 1928 and supplied power to sections of Blairsville for almost 20 years. |
|
 |
|
| Looking up from inside the lower level of the generator building. |
|
 |
|
| View from another side of the generator building. |
|
 |
|
| Part of retaining wall along old road above the mill... |
|
| I found sharper and more complete versions of the two old photos of this mill that I had included in my earlier album: |
|
 |
|
| Old River Mill Photo courtesy of Union County Historical Society |
|
 |
|
| Dam at Old River Mill Photo courtesy of Union County Historical Society |
|
 |
|
| Another image of the Old River Mill dam Photo courtesy of Union County Historical Society |