martinzoo

Yesterday we went to Petersburg with Grandma and Grandpa to letterbox. We came to this really old mill on the banks of the Appomattox River. When we got home I did a bit of research on this mill. I found out that it dates back the early 1800’s.

Petersburg was an important commercial and industrial city because it provided a good means of transportation (the Appomattox River and canal system), it had cheap labor (slaves),it had available water power (Appomattox River), and it had valuable raw materials brought to them because of the rail roads (cotton, tobacco,and coal).

During the Civil War there was a 10 month battle called the Siege at Petersburg. It was before the Battle at Richmond. Much of the town was damaged due to the fighting, including this mill and the surrounding canal system. In 1815 Petersburg experienced a tremendous fire in the downtown area. And recently (1993), Petersburg suffered through a devastating tornado that also effected many of our family members in the neighboring Colonial Heights area. All of this contributed to the ruins you’ll see in the following pictures.

This is where our letterbox was located. A concrete mill is located at the base of this railroad bridge trestle.

GB is standing in front of the railroad trestles that ran all the way across the Appomattox River. The miller had a house on each side of the river and he milled corn, wheat, and flour.

Here GB is reaching into the base of the mill, at the entrance, to find the letterbox. It was a tad elusive, but Grandpa helped tremendously, since he’d been here before.

This is the entrance to the mill. Our letterbox was found in the far left side of the picture, in a crack between bricks.

Mills used water, which flowed down a mill race to power or move the machines at the mill. Here GB is kneeling above the ruins of the turbine that was used to grind. The grinding stones were located just above this machinery. And the miller’s house was built above the whole thing. As you can see from the sunshine, all of the house and the grinding stones are gone. But the turbine was pretty neat to see. I was a little worried about GB’s safety as he was peering over the edge. It’s about 8 feet down there to the bottom.

What a fun and interesting adventure. Next week, when Grandpa feels better (he had shoulder surgery), we plan to go visit the Old Midlothian Mines on a new letterboxing adventure.