Yates Mill, about five miles south of downtown Raleigh, is a fully restored water-powered gristmill dating to around 1756, making it one of Wake County’s oldest buildings and the region’s only surviving operable gristmill. For nearly 200 years it met rural needs by grinding corn and wheat, producing lumber, and carding wool. Owned over time by the Pearson, Boylan, Briggs, Primrose, Penny, and Yates families, it took its enduring name after its 1863 sale to Phares and Roxanna Yates. After closing in 1953, it was eventually restored, reopened to the public in 2006, and remains valued as a rare survivor of early industry and regional history.