K.C. French Mill
Jefferson Co. | Tennessee | USA
Watersource: Dumplin Creek.
K.C. French Mill
From Knoxville, go east on I 40 to exit # 412, then, go south on Deep Spring Road. Go 0.1 miles and turn left on Big Bird Lane, then turn onto Harbin Road and go to a junction with French Mill Road. Turn left and look for the mill on the right while crossing Dumplin Creek.
The mill sits back off the road, but can be easily seen. The mill, at first part of an iron works called Dumplin Bloomery Forge, is believed to have been built about 1800.
The iron works failed in 1826, sold at sheriffs sale in 1830, and converted into an Oliver Evans style grist mill using two run of 42" millstones. The water wheel measures 18'x 3'.
The W. T. Savage Co. upgraded the mill in 1910 by installing the newer roller mills. Two stands of rollers were employed, with a 24" Meadows mill being added in 1949 to grind corn meal for the table.
In 1979, floodwaters washed out some supports for the roller mill stands, messing up the alignment of the drive train linkage. Kenneth French, the miller, gave up and retired at this point.
Freeman Fritz Lambright bought the mill in 1990 and has restored to about 85% finished in February of 2010. Lambright hopes to have the mill grinding by September 2010.