On Friday evening as we checked in to Hamburg State Park in Mitchell, Georgia to camp for the weekend, we noticed an event flyer for a tour of the old gristmill here at the park. We’d admired it the first time we camped here in 2022 and had been disappointed that we couldn’t see inside. Here was our chance!
So we bought 2 tour tickets for the 2:00 tour and joined the local historian guiding this tour.
We weren’t disappointed!
We learned that the Gilmore brothers built this mill in 1921, and that it is owned today by the State of Georgia – and is still a working mill. On the tour, we learned that the dam powers the mill, and we saw diagrams and each section of the way the mill works. I had no idea that grits and cornmeal are the exact same thing; the only difference is the size of the grounds of corn. The powdery grind is cornmeal, while the thick, gritty grind is what we call grits. And oh, with butter and salt, they are simply divine.
I also didn’t know that “milling about” came from the 1920s and 30s when farmers would socialize while waiting their turn to have their dried corn or wheat milled into meal or flour. Apparently this was the “market” of the day, where coming wasn’t just about bringing crops but also about keeping in touch with others in the community.
What I did already know was that when people said they would be somewhere, “if the Good Lord’s willing and the Creek don’t rise,” this was in reference to the relationship between the Native American tribe of Creek and the white settlers encroaching on property that was not originally theirs during colonial times.
I’m including some of the photos I took on the tour so that you can see the inside of the mill. If you’re ever in this neck of the woods, it’s well worth the $2.00 for the tour (or check this one out on Youtube)!
Common Threads 