Mt Healthy, Ohio Mill 1820-1980

Mt Healthy Mills

I was asked by the Mt Healthy Historical Society to document and share some information about the mill that was once located 1 mile north of Mt Healthy.  I started researching the mill after finding it in my own neighborhood.  I have lived in Mt Healthy for a little more than 20 years and never knew it was here.  Having been trained and apprenticed as an historical millwright out of high school, I have a very keen interest in all things mechanical especially things water powered (powered by Hydraulic forces).  To understand the mill at Mt. Healthy is to understand the United States in the period of the 19th century that saw the country coming out of another war with Britain in 1812 and a national need and want for land to the west with an ever increasing population.  Many families moved west over the Appalachian Mountains through the divide into western Kentucky.  Some came the route of the Flatboat down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to  Marietta then Cincinnati and so on.  You may of heard of Daniel Boone who led pioneers as a guide to the Northwest Territory into the Kentucky wilderness.  His brother Squire settled in south central Indiana and built a water powered mill there after locating an underground spring that ran year around.  After surviving several skirmishes with a few roving bands of indian braves, he built his farm around the spring site then a mill to serve the community.
Mills of many types have been around for centuries.  The Romans had many mills that served their empire.  There are many ruins still extant in europe.  The Romans became very efficient in the use of water and construction / engineering methods.  Some of their aqueducts are still being used in Rome, Italy and can still be seen in parts of the world that have not been touched by modernization and population sprawl.  There are still some roman baths  flowing water and operating today as the day they were built a few thousand years ago. Many building techniques developed by the roman builders such as the stone arch and waterproof concrete, to sewers and drinking water delivery systems to name a few, have been used later by immigrants going to the new world and then by their descendants who became pioneers moving west in the young United States. Back in the day,  George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both had mills on their farms that produced things such as Cider, Flour, Corn Meal, Whisky, Animal Feed, and lumber.  The  Mill in the United States was a very important necessity to make flour for breads and cakes and was the meeting place where people would talk and catch up on current affairs, gossip, and talk politics.     Some places built entire towns around the mill as being the center of the community.

The Water powered Saw Mill at Mt. Pleasant--In the beginning.

The Mill in Mt. Pleasant started out as a water powered Saw Mill that was constructed around the years 1820-1830 by Jediah Hill.  Mr Hill moved to Mt. Pleasant in 1819 from New Jersey and purchased 200 acres of land one mile north of Mt. Pleasant for the purposes of building a farm. Sawing lumber as a business came later after his home and farm had been constructed.  As the mill was being built, Mt Healthy was then called Mt. Pleasant and had been formed 8 years earlier in 1817.

The owners:

Jediah Hill- builder/owner, 1820s-1859, water powered saw mill, Sash type saw.

Henry Rogers- 1859-1867, Built 5 story mill structure, Stone grinding grain. Water powered. Sawed
                                            lumber for local community. initially had two run of stone.

Wilson Rogers- 1867- 1887, Ran mill, built adjoining buildings, increased capacity of operation,                                                          converted to steam with water power back up 1870s.
                                               Stone ground grain, sawed lumber . Converted to circular saw                                                                from sash type saw. Ran new saw from steam power.

Charles Hartman- 1887-1911, Modernized operation, converted from stone grinding to roller mill.
                                                Timber resources becoming scarce in area but continued to saw lumber
                                                 Stopped using water for motive power source (1890s). Steam Operated

Ralph Groff- 1911-1952,  Operated roller mills under steam then to Diesel engine, converted to                                            all electric motors in 1930s. Used the 50 h.p.  Single cylinder Diesel engine as                                            a backup.

1952 Purchased by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. U.S. Government for the purpose of constructing the West Fork of Mill Creek Flood Control Project (Winton Woods Lake).

The mill stood boarded up, with its machinery removed and unoccupied from 1952 through 1980 under the control of the Hamilton County Park District when an arsonist gained access on a Saturday night and burned the historic structure to the ground.  The Fire marshall at the scene said it took 2 hours for the huge structure to completely burn down. The flames could be seen 12 miles away in downtown Cincinnati.  The buildings huge Walnut hand hewn beams and random width flooring were 160 years old at the time of the fire in 1980.

 This mill would become a central figure in the development of the surrounding communities of Springfield Township, Colerain Township, Mt Pleasant, College Hill, and New Burlington.  Mill Road, running north from Hamilton avenue was first blazed to transport farmers grains to be ground at this mill. Later to be officially named "Mill Road".



Hartmans Mills. Mt Healthy Ohio as it appeared in 1907.  Steam powered  Saw, grist and flour roller Mill. note the stacks of lumber to the right of the house.  Mill building is the tall 5 story structure in the center.  Covered bridge built by Jediah Hill c.1850 to serve the mill.  Hartman was the fourth owner of the mill complex. 1887-1911

The Millwright and how he set the mill up with the lay of the land:

 The saw mill was 25 feet wide by 60 feet long and consisted of a hand cut/laid creek stone foundation that was 2 feet thick and 16' tall
. The building itself was constructed against a hillside with the building entrance facing the hilltop level and the waterwheel sat on the basement level 16 feet below.

 Water entered the mill from the front via an enclosed earthen millrace and dropped onto an overshot waterwheel of 12' diameter and  48" wide.
The saw mill was designed for a "inside the building" water wheel (to prevent freezing) in the wintertime.  The mill used water from the West fork of the Mill Creek in Hamilton County Ohio.  The hand dug earthen Mill Race that came from the dam at left was more than 700 feet away from the mill and dug to a depth of 48".  Thats a lot of digging? wow.

1880s postcard of the "L" shaped dam, hand cut stone-140 feet in length, 10 feet high. Built as early as 1850 and used to 1900-1910. This would have been the second or third on this site. There are still three smaller low head dams upstream that were used in conjunction with this dam to store water in reserve to operate the mill.

The sawmill itself was initially a Sash Type, "up and down " shown below:




 The interesting thing is that this mill had an enclosed tailrace (hand cut/laid arch stone tunnel) led from the mill to the creek (55 yards). A portion of the head race was enclosed in vaulted stonework as

Photo of Wheel pit with arched tail race opening to left.
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 Tailrace opening at creekbank below the mill. Carried water out of the mill after hitting the wheel.

The sawmill and later grist mill addition were built in stages throughout the years and owners.  Motive power was changed as technology advanced.