WHITE'S MILL: STONE-GRINDING CORN

In our travels, we keep an eye out for grist mills so that we may purchase fresh stone-ground grits. The flavor and nutrition is too good to pass up and our efforts are always well rewarded.

Recently, we visited White's Mill near Abingdon Va where we were shown through the mill by George Price, the president of the White's Mill Foundation and Jennifer Kling, chair of the operations committe for the mill.

Price and Kling are in the process of preserving and restoring the mill through their non-profit foundation and are deep into the process of procuring and administering state and federal grants for that purpose.

The mill dates from about 1790 and the earliest mill at the site was built by John Lewark, a Welshman who was originally a shipwright and later a millwright. He came to this country prior to the 1812 and was shipwrecked on the coast of North Carolina, near Kittyhawk. He served in the War of 1812 and lived to be ninety-six years of age.

Contact information for the mill is: http://www.whitesmill.org/; White's Mill Foundation, P.O. Box 63, Abingdon, VA 24212, 276-628-2960. They are open Wednesday-Saturday from 10-6 and are closed for January and February.

The videos accompanying this posting show an overview of the mill and what it looks like. The second video shows Kling providing a demonstration of the grinding process for grits and corn meal.

SOURCES: George Price/Jennifer Kling, The White's Mill Foundation; Highland Mills by Clarence Baker Kearfott (B & I Printing, 1970)