Here’s a mill site that doesn’t pop up easily in searches. Thanks to a Facebook follower, I learned about Markham Springs Recreation Area and the mill, actually wheelhouse, there. This old mill site has one of the most interesting stories I’ve heard surrounding a mill.
The old wheelhouse sits adjacent to the Black River in the Markham Springs Recreation Area, located within the Mark Twain National Forest near Williamsville, Missouri.
The thrill of the entire area for me, of course, is the old mill site itself. As many mill sites go, there was once a gristmill with an undershot wheel onsite here, too – well before 1850. According to a website article about “Markham Springs History,” the site also held a sash sawmill that cut more than 1,500 board feet of lumber daily. This is not unusual, and in our travels, we have seen mill sites function for more than one purpose, such as Dillard Mill.
Sometime in the later 1800s, Bill and Jo DeHaven constructed a large, two-story gristmill with a 14-foot overshot wheel here. It boasted new machinery required for a proper flour mill.
The mill acquired its present name from owner Jefferson Markham, who purchased the property in 1901, and ran it as a gristmill until 1907. The mill went unused until the 1930s, when Rudolph Fuchs purchased it and replaced the old mill with the present-day wheelhouse.
Near to the mill sits the Fuchs House, which is a beautiful five-bedroom stone and concrete house, build by Fuchs in the late 1930s. Fuchs built the present-day wheelhouse, at the site of the old mill, to produce electricity. He never used the waterwheel to generate power, because Rural Electrification Administration arrived on the scene, and offered a much better solution.
He also built a dam on a spring near the mill. There’s an enormous mill pond in front of the house. The pond receives almost 5 million gallons of water a day from 6 springs that feed into it.
The US Forest Service (USFS) acquired this site in 1965. Several years later, in 2010, local craftsmen renovated the house, under permit from the Mark Twain National Forest. In return for their services, the craftsmen and their families get to use the location during the year on the dates of their choices, and then, it is available for rental during certain times of the year.
You can see that at one time, the USFS opened the wheelhouse for visitors, and there are old displays standing inside the room. The little building is no longer open for visits.
On the day we visited, we were the only people onsite. We could explore all around the old mill site, and enjoyed the view with wild flowers and a rustic old overshot wheel. This would be a fine place to stop for a picnic.
The area offers hiking trails, such as the Eagle Bluff trail, whereas the name would indicate – you can see birds!
It also offers primitive camping sites, as well as a campground with single and double sites for tent and RV camping, with electric hookups. It also has river access for boating, fishing and canoes.
See information about renting the Fuchs House.
