Bennett’s Mill

04 Jan Bennett’s Mill

1837

Bennett’s Mill

In 1837 William Bennett bought a place west of Fayetteville from N. Blanchard’s administrators, giving the land and water rights to Land Lot 129 and 159. He built a new watermill for corn and wheat on the site of a small mill. The new mill was called Bennett’s Mill. The two circular mill rocks were about six feet in diameter and were quarried in the mountains of Alabama. It took the workmen about seven weeks to prepare them and to bring to this Fayette County location. The mill had 3 employees in 1870 and the wages that year was $600.00. It had one water wheel with a horsepower of 48 and could grind 80 bushels of grain a day. Marvin Adams stated that he remembered “the mill having an under-shot wheel. They used to open that gate at the end of the dam and the water came out and flowed under the wheel to make it turn.” Adams put the closing of the mill at some time in the 1940s.

Adapted from an article by Sandra Grist Woods

Source: The Fayette County Georgia Heritage Book

John Clarence Brown was the miller at Bennett’s Mill in 1955. He was injured when the turbine belt broke while he was dressing it. After this the mill was closed permanently.

Fayette County Georgia Heritage Book #87 John Clarence Brown