After finishing and publishing the book, “Milling Around: Exploring 26 Mills in the Missouri Ozarks,” I started thinking about how to make it a little easier for people to visit the mills efficiently. After all, there are 26 of them to see. Granted, there is a map of Missouri that contains all the counties that hold mills located in the front matter of the book. And from there, you can easily see where the mills lie in relation to each other. But, this year, I’m kicking off the series that shows you how to see more than one mill in a day. Let’s start with three mills on Highway 19 in Oregon County, Missouri.
Falling Spring Mill
Let’s begin this tour at the northernmost part of the county, about 9 miles south of Winona, Missouri, on Highway 19. Falling Spring Mill is located within the Mark Twain National Forest, down an old logging road. If we have experienced wet weather shortly before you head out, you’ll want to be driving either all-wheel or 4-wheel drive to get here. Pack a picnic, and enjoy the serene setting. The last time I was there, I shared the spot near the old Thomas Brown cabin with two bird photographers who anticipated seeing some species that I’d never heard of before then.
Water to power the mill shoots out of a bluff across a small pond, and once was channeled through an above-ground chute or flume to the mill, to grind corn and saw logs. The setting is like a park, and includes a huge mill pond. If you have the right permits from the state, you may fish here. It would be a grand place for a Sunday afternoon picnic and fishing outing.
Turner Mill
Greer Mill
