The first mill on this site was constructed in 1817 by James King, a well known millwright in the central Ohio area, fot Clarence McKnight,an early area settler.

The mill, one of the largest on the Ohio frontier, was connected to the dam, a short way above the mill, by a millrace channeling water to the forebay, then through a wooden trough to the overshot wheel to power the buhrstones.

The stone dam was damaged in a flood as was a subsequent brush dam, but some parts of the first dam remain.

The second mill, McNaughton's Mill, was built by John McNaughton in 1827 to replace King's/McKnight's mill of 1817.

The third mill on the site was constructed about 1870. It was constructed using 12"X 12" beams fitted into 14" diameter corner posts, one story at a time until the full 3.5 story structure including the stone 1st story was complete.

It operated using three sets or runs of buhrstones supplied with power from the 14' overshot wheel. The interior system of gears and cogs utilized hardwood cogs such as applewood in the gearing teeth which were replacable.

The photo is of the 1870/third mill/second McNaughton Mill. The wheel was fed by a canal(raceway) from the stream. The massive beams help to distribute the vibration caused by the turning of the waterwheel.

J. Bettis was listed as the owner of McNaughton's Mill in 1886, but many since think he was only the miller employed by McNaughton.

The mill ceased operations sometime around the mid 1900's, and was purchased by the Velvet Ice Cream Co., which pioneered in Utica about 1914, looking to expand their business. Two decades were spent restoring the mill into an ice cream parlor.

In 1986, a fire destroyed the hard work and time invested in Ye Olde Mill. Some of the foundations were either usable or rebuilt almost exactly as the old mill of 1870. The Dager family, the owners and originators of the Velvet Ice Cream label, have rebuilt the mill to look quite like a mill, including the new 18' steel waterwheel.

The "new" mill of the late 1980's includes an ice cream museum, an antique milling equipment and memorabilia museum, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and restaurant, and an ice cream viewing gallery for visitors to see the actual ice cream making process.

See the official website at www.velveticecream.com for more information and history of the mill and Velvet Ice Cream.