| Old Mill, Landmark, Is Being Torn Down |
Werhan’s Mill,
Franklin Township
Also known as Forrest Mills Mill
| The old mill at
Forest Mills southest of Waukon is being torn down.
Serving for many years as a landmark in northeast Iowa,
the huge frame structure is being demolished for the
material in it. The mill, built some 95 years ago, served its original purpose until 1932 when the water wheels were stopped. The building has until very recent years been in a good state of preservation. The original mill was a sawmill built in 1854 by William Wearhan *. In 1868 the grist mill and flour mill were built on. The timbers were hand hewn of elm and oak. One of the timbers was 50 ft. long without a splice -- 10 by 14 inches thick. the main support timbers in the saw mill were 15X24 inches, 20 feet long, hand hewn. Very few nails were used. Even the rafters were put together with wooden pins. The nails that were used were all handmade square ones. the saw was an upright blade that did a very smooth job. To supply the power, a dam was erected across Yellow river about a mile up from the mill. A mill race was made and the water was let into the race through a flood gate. The water flowed through the race to the mill where five mill wheels (all turbine type) supplied the power for the grinding, sifting, and lumber sawing. There were four grinding mills, all using groved stones to grind the grist and flour. There were also four bolts or flour sifters. these were large reels, wound with silk cloth, and used to sift the different flours. The mill was owned and operated by William Wearhan from 1854 until 1908 when George Clark became the owner. He operated until it became the property of the present owner, Floyd Clark. Floyd operated it for many years and did the last grinding in 1932. The mill was also the site of a post office for the surrounding country. The stage coach left the mail at the mill and people picked it up there. The old boxes or pigeon holes, still bearing the names of many of the old settlers can still be seen in the ruins. An interesting story, told by one of the relatives concerns grandmother Wearhan, wife of William Wearhan, who built the mill. She collected sap from the maple trees there, boiled it down to sugar, then put it in a large basket and walked all the way to the town of Frankville, where she traded it for the broad ax that hewed the mill timbers. Several of these trips she made trading her maple sugar for tools to make the mill. The skilled workmanship on the mill was done by Mr. Wearhan and Mr. Gilson, who was a partner in the saw mill for a few years. |
- source: old clipping, unknown paper - hand-dated 1949
- transcribed by Sharyl Ferrall
- note: *the spelling from the article has been preserved in this
transcription, the surname 'Wearhan' is frequently spelled
'Werhan'