Last updated: October 10, 2024
Place
Information Panel: Machine in a Stone Box
NPS / Claire Hassler
Quick Facts
Amenities
2 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Wheelchair Accessible
The wayside is titled in the upper right-hand corner: Machine in a Stone Box. It features a large color photo of a three-story brick building with two windows on each level. A diagram showing the working mechanics of a water wheel is drawn in white over the center of the building from top to bottom, with water wheel included to show it sitting in the water passing by below.
Peirce Mill represents the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in America. For centuries, small water-powered mills had ground grain into flour, using human labor in every step of the process. This 1829 mill, on the other hand, was a mechanized marvel, incorporating the latest laborsaving technologies pioneered by American inventor Oliver Evans. Water turned the wheel, which spun a shaft that drove gears, belts, a grain elevator, and a variety of machines. Assisted by gravity and a single miller, the mill's machinery automatically turned grain into flour.
Peirce Mill represents the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in America. For centuries, small water-powered mills had ground grain into flour, using human labor in every step of the process. This 1829 mill, on the other hand, was a mechanized marvel, incorporating the latest laborsaving technologies pioneered by American inventor Oliver Evans. Water turned the wheel, which spun a shaft that drove gears, belts, a grain elevator, and a variety of machines. Assisted by gravity and a single miller, the mill's machinery automatically turned grain into flour.