Existing comment:
Water Power: (outside sign)
Wooden Wheel and Flowing Stream:
The leisurely flow of creek water was diverted to the mill race where it was channeled and delivered to the water wheel. The wheel, placed in motion by the weight of the water that filled the wheel buckets, generated the 20 to 40 horsepower needed to keep the mill's wooden machinery and heavy millstones in motion.
The illustrated breast wheel closely resembles the original water wheel used to power the mill. The momentum of the creek's flow and the weight of the water-filled buckets generated the mill's power.
Periodically, destructive torrents of high creek water would wash away the timber crib dams, and milling operations would be interrupted until the dams were reconstructed. |