Name: Jefferson Mills
Date: 1940s
Image Number: RM02cdRM01, RM03cdRM01
Comments: Jefferson Mills, located on the Hardware River approximately
three miles northeast of Scottsville, was built about 1800 and is a brick structure with four floors
supported by huge handworked wooden beams.
The mill originally was run by an overshot wheel that was fed from a stone dam twenty feet above the riverbed.
Jefferson Mills' original machinery, shown at right, was handmade of wood and continued to serve the mill reliably right up to its last
working day. Previously known as Albemarle Mills, the mill was sold to Peter Fields Jefferson on January 28, 1857, and renamed after its new owner.
In May 1919, William Thomas Moulton purchased Jefferson Mills and operated it with his
son, John Adkins Moulton. Jefferson Mills was a working mill until 1945 when the last
miller, William Williams (shown below left), retired.
The Moultons opened a flour, feed, and seed store called 'Jefferson Mills' on Main Street
in Scottsville and located in the old Canal turning basin across from today's Scottsville Museum.
In this 1941 photo at left, John A. Moulton stands
beside his delivery truck in front of the store; to his left is the Pitts Chevrolet garage with just the roof of
the Canal Warehouse (then known as the Farmer's Exchange) showing behind it. The mill store sold flour, cracked corn, and
Larro and Kasco farm feeds. Because this store flooded whenever
Mink Creek overflowed, the Moultons later moved it to sites on higher ground. Other Jefferson
Mills store locations included the old Braid Factory across from Dr. Stinson's home on Valley Street and
on West Main Street where the Post Office is currently located.
These photos of Jefferson Mills are part of the Randolph Harris Moulton collection. Ranny resides
in Macon, Georgia, and is the grandson of William Thomas Moulton and son of John Adkins Moulton.
In 1930, Ranny was born on the floor above the Jefferson Mills store on Main Street.
Copyright © 2018 by Scottsville Museum
Top image located on: Capturing Our Heritage, CDRM01
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Image at right located on: Capturing Our Heritage, CDRM01
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Image at left located on: Capturing Our Heritage, CDRM01
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Below image located on: Capturing Our Heritage, CDRM01
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