History
of the Durham Gristmill
The
gristmill was built on the foundation of the Durham Furnace in 1820.
The
following are memories of a granddaughter in 1938— courtesy of
Ms. Lorretta
Dysher:
"Grandfather
Riegel had a large grist mill in Durham, PA. In the basement of the mill was
a huge water wheel. This wheel was powered by water
flowing
over its paddles from the race across the street. I could look through
a screened
window and watch the wheel as it went around and around on its endless journey.
I was fascinated by this wheel. It made me spellbound to watch and listen.
The water flowing over the wheel made an eerie sound as it fell back into
the dark
waterway below. The continual motion of the wheel kept a cool breeze coming
from the window, with a dank, musty aura.
Upstairs in the mill were the various
sized mill stones. These stones ground
the flour and feed. Dad didn’t allow me in the mill very often. It was
an extremely dangerous place for children to be. When I was permitted to enter
the
mill, I had to be very careful. Chutes crisscrossed throughout the mill. Some
you could squeeze past, others were so low if you forgot to duck your head,
a nasty goose egg would result. A massive system of belts and gears powered
by
the water wheel made the huge stones roll around and around. Underneath these
huge heavy rolling stones, corn, millet, oats, rye, barley and grandfather’s
Special Winter Wheat were ground. As varieties of grains were crushed, a delightful
pleasant aroma shrouded the mill. Wet molasses was the best fragrance of all
as it was added to the cow feed.
Grandfather’s flour was always in demand.
He sold his flour to customers locally, and as far away as Philadelphia and
New York City. You could travel
for miles and miles and everyone knew of its excellent quality. Grandfather’s
flour was bagged in white paper sacks, with a piece of twine tying the bag
shut. The front of the bag carried a picture of a young boy slicing a piece
of homemade
bread. Grandfather had this same huge advertising logo on the front of his
mill. The young boy was sitting on a three-legged stool. He had on a big
yellow straw
hat and a pair of blue overalls with one strap unbuttoned. He had a bread
knife in his hand ready to slice a piece of homemade bread. I loved to watch
for
this painting to come into view as we approached Durham and grandfather’s
mill.
In the morning dad would hook the combine to the tractor. The combine
was a new machine for us. It cut the wheat and shook the grain from the stalk.
The
grains
of wheat went up the auger and spilled into a waiting bag. My brothers stood
on the machine’s platform. As a bag filled with wheat the boys would
quickly tie it. Our hired man Milt took the full bag away and put an empty
one in its
place. When the platform was full they stopped the equipment to unload. Our
team of horses, Dan and Maude, pulled a wagon over to the combine and the
men transferred
the full bags. The straw fell from the back of the machine. It laid on the
ground for a day or two to finish drying. Then the straw was taken to the
straw mow
to be used as bedding for the animals. It was fun to watch the combine but
it was hot, dirty, dusty work. By the end of the day my brothers would be
black
from head to toe."
