Pickwick Mill is a historic

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

in the unincorporated community of

Pickwick, Minnesota Pickwick is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Homer Township, Winona County, Minnesota, Homer Township, Winona County, Minnesota, Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Geography The community is located along Winona County R ...

, United States, near the city of Winona. It was constructed in the mid-1850s and is now operated as a milling museum. Pickwick Mill was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1970 for having state-level significance in the themes of agriculture, architecture, and industry. It was nominated for being one of southeast Minnesota's oldest surviving water-powered mills, serving as a key local industry in its day and a Winona County landmark to the present.

Description

The six-story building was constructed from local

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

with a nail-less timber frame and a

pitched roof Roof pitch is the steepness of a roof expressed as a ratio of inch(es) rise per horizontal foot (or their metric equivalent), or as the angle in degrees its surface deviates from the horizontal. A flat roof has a pitch of zero in either inst ...

. In 1907 a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

ripped up the roof and top story, which the operators replaced with a flat plank roof. A more classically accurate pitched roof was restored in recent years. The mill is powered by a water wheel. Most of the mill's original machinery is still intact and operable.

History

Pickwick Mill was built on the banks of Big Trout Creek by Thomas Grant and Wilson Davis. The mill's official website says it was constructed 1856–58, though other sources give a construction date of 1854. The property's National Register nomination says it was built in 1854 as a grist- and lumber mill and converted to

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

production in 1856. Pickwick Mill is one of the largest mills in Minnesota and was one of the first community businesses in the state. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

the mill ran non-stop, churning out 100 barrels of flour a day for the Union Army.

Historic attraction

Pickwick Mill is now managed by Pickwick Mill Inc., a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

largely funded by grants. It is open for tours from May to October.

References

External links

Pickwick Mill
- official site {{National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Winona County, Minnesota Industrial buildings completed in 1858 Grinding mills on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Limestone buildings in the United States Mill museums in Minnesota Museums in Winona County, Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Winona County, Minnesota Watermills in the United States

Description

History

Historic attraction

See also

References

External links