The Mill Complex: Features 5, 6, 11, & 13

Peter Van Winkle built his a mule/ox powered mill nearby in the early 1850s. A steam engine was added at this location before the end of the decade, the first of its kind in the Ozarks. The mill was destroyed during the Civil War, but Peter rebuilt it "stronger, faster, better" by 1870. The new mill included a 150 horsepower engine powered by three steam boilers that ran saw mill, grist mill and wood products manufacturing operations. Following a decline in operations at the turn of the 20th century, the mill's remaining machinery, including the engine flywheel, was removed and sold scrap during the WWI era.

The only known photograph of the mill was taken looking towards the grist mill with the saw mill buildings off to the side and extending out of the shot. Most historical sources repeat what was printed in Goodspeed's 1889 History of Benton County: "The mills are inclosed [sic] in a building 70 x 90 feet in size, two stories high, and all covered with an iron roof."

The only remaining above-ground evidence of the mill at Van Hollow is a large (approximately 9 meter by 9 meter) limestone foundation, which is likely the foundation for the engine boilers. Directly adjacent to this on the west side, is a deep (approximately 3 to 4 meters) trench, which is bounded on its west side by a limestone wall that extends into the flywheel trench.

Two geophysical surveys at the mill complex have been carried out. One in August of 2000 when soil conditions were comparatively dry and a second under more ideal condition prior to the 2002 spring break excavations. The figure to the left illustrates the location and size of the geophysical grids in relationship to the extant features of the mill. Geophysical technologies used include magnetometry, electrical resistance, and electromagnetic conductivity. No clearly defined foundation lines were evident in either geophysical survey.

Test excavations were conducted in 2001 and 2002 to ground-truth the geophysical surveys and to investigate the scattered anomalies recorded using the various technologies. A total of five one-meter-by-two-meter units were used to investigate these anomalies-all encountered sterile subsoil at a shallow level and recovered only a small number of artifacts associated with the mill operation. No foundation remnants or other cultural features were encountered in these test excavations. The imagery again suggested concentrations of metal and brick rubble confirmed by the excavations but no clearly delineated foundation lines. It was known that the mill had been dynamited to facilitate the salvage of scrap iron, and consequently iron is apparent on the surface and presumably just below the surface.

During the 2001 field school excavations were conducted on the boiler platform in order to provide information about the mill's equipment and operations. Two three-meter-by-three-meter units on the boiler foundation were placed to quarter the entire platform with the gravel fill, which had been deposited on the boiler foundation at some point in the past, removed from the foundation, exposing the limestone base. The figure below shows the northwest quarter of the foundation after excavation. The foundation appears to have been rimmed with stone and then filled with gravel. A cast iron "door" was found at floor level in this unit. It appears to have been mortared to the stone floor. This door looks very much like a boiler door but was mortared to the floor perhaps as an anchor point for the boilers proper.

Although the archaeological investigations within the mill complex have not been completely conclusive and have, perhaps, posed more questions than they have answered. The mill excavations have been used as a spring board for a thesis project in anthropology. Under the direction of George Sabo, Robin Bowers examined the Van Winkle saw and grist mill operations using a combination of excavated material, archival data and general information about the history of the saw mill industry.

More photos of archaeological investigations in the mill complex area.

2001 Boiler Platform Excavations
2002 "Spring Break" Test Excavations
2005 Fall Excavations at the Mill