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More Than Just A Mill
The story of Eureka Mill shows how both ownership and the reasons for operating mills changed in the 1800's. Built around 1820, Eureka Mill had already had several owners, including Tavner Fortson, before Joseph Rucker acquired major interest in the enterprise in 1837, along with other partners. Rucker also owned one of the largest plantations in the area. The mill remained under this ownership until near the end of the Civil War, when a new group of investors bought the property for $4,854. William Mattox, another well-to-do planter, was among them. The new owners sold the mill two years later to John Grogan and other investors. They apparently made improvements because by 1875 the mill was valued at $9,350, nearly twice its worth a decade earlier. By this time, the mill probably used two Wooden turbines, each with a metal hub and shaft. A dam diverted water from Beaverdam Creek into a ditch, called a millrace, which carried the flow into the mill to power the equipment. Like many dams of the period, this one was a crib dam, made of wood and shaped like a V. Rocks were piled up inside the V to help hold the dam in place. In the late 1800's, when almost everybody farmed and hauled their crops to a mill for grinding, mills became the logical place to establish small service centers as well. At Eureka Mill, there was a machinery storehouse, a blacksmith, a shoe shop, and a house for the miller. A small community called Eureka developed nearby. John Grogan's daughter, Leela Grogan Hobbs, eventually inherited five-sixths of the mill in 1895, and bought the remaining shares to become sole owner by 1907. She planned to convert the facility into a full-fledged cotton mill, but whether she accomplished this goal is unknown. In 1908, 14 inches of rain fell in just 48 hours, raising Beaverdam Creek as much as 20 feet above its banks. The rampaging waters destroyed Eureka Mill, which was never rebuilt.
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