Orient Mill / Harrisburg Mill
Pickaway Co. | Ohio | USA
Watersource: Big Darby Creek.
Orient Mill / Harrisburg Mill
From the center of the village of Orient, go west on US 62 a short distance to the junction with Sh 762/Harrisburg-Orient Pike. Go south on Sh 762 about 0.1 or 0.2 miles to the mill on the east side of the road. It cannot be seen from US 62.
The first mill on this site was a saw mill, which burned on 1830, built by Joseph Chenoweth. The site was rebuilt in 1735, this time with the first grist mill in Darby Township, again by Joseph Chenoweth.
This mill used a millrace coming off Big Darby Creek to feed a large wheel to produce flour. A.R.Eesley was easily able to produce 50 barrels of flour/day.
The mill was purchased by Owen T. Curry & John W. Rush; who, converted the mill to electricity about the same time they converted the flour manufacturing system to the new roller method. The sandstone foundation was beefed up with concrete, plus additional support timbers were installed for added strength.
Chenoweth founded the town of Harrisburg a year after building the grist mill and farmed 1600 acres in the local area. Chenoweth, born of humble beginnings in 1798, had admirable character traits, eventually becoming a wealthy, successful stock dealer in Franklin Co., Ohio. He died in 1869, having attained great honors.