It is believed that this mill was built by John Rife in 1822. Rife was a Dunkard, German Baptist Brethren, for whom the town of Dayton was first named Rifesville or Rifetown, until it was renamed Dayton in 1833.

The second owner was Frederick Cline and the third owners were Daniel Bowman & Frederick Miller. Bowman bought Miller's interest and went on to own the mill, called Bowman's Mill then, for some 40 years. This mill, known as the Upper Mill, burned twice, once in 1856 and again in 1864, this time by Union troops to keep the resources unavailable to the Confederate Army.

Gen. Phil Sheridan spared the mill, but General George Custers northern army did not. Rockingham Co's wartime destruction totaled in excess of 60 mills, 450 barns, and numerous homes.

In 1880, the owners of the Bowman's Mill/Upper Mill, Benjamin & Peter Long, sued the owners of the Lower Mill for raising their dam so that water backed up and slowed the water flow and operation of the wheel of the Upper Mill. The Lower Mill was forced to lower the dam. The Lower Mill burned in 1922 and was not rebuilt.

R. H. Brown purchased the mill in 1896 and began to manufacture Silver Lake Patent Flour. J. P. Long was the owner in 1909; and by 1913, the mill was known as Dayton Roller Mills. Amos Shank and Walter Heatwole were the owner/operators in 1917 and 1920, respectively.

In 1915, the mill was bought by a group of individuals, the Silver Lake Improement Co., and the property became known as the Silver Lake Milling property. Four years later the mill was sold for $19,000 to J. B. Grove who operated the mill under the name, Dayton Roller Mills. In 1945 Grove sold it to the city of Harrisonburg for $25,000.

In 1946, Rockingham Milling Co., Inc. purchased the mill building only for $5,225 and operated it as a feed mill until 1996, when they relocated to a nearby area. The water rights had remained with the cities of Harrisonburg & Dayton. The mill was donated by the Rockingham Milling Co. to the Harrisonburg/Rockingham Co. Historic Society in 1997. In

The springs at the farther, north end of the 12 acre Silver Lake flows at 2.8 million gallon/day. Rebuilt in 1866 on the existing foundation, this construction is what survives today. LDA Creations purchased the mill in December 1999 to house its custom china decorating operations, and occupied the building in spring 2001. The mill's wheel was restored in 2006 and turns again. The interior wooden cogs, which are turned by the wheel, are visible(and audible!)in the gift shop. The businesses website located in the mill now is http://www.ldacreate.com