The first mills used hand-powered pitsaws with the blade held in a frame and pulled up and down by two men, one above and one below. About 1630, water began powering the blade, bringing the vertical "up and down" sawmill into use. A pre-Civil War map shows nine sawmill sites, including this one, along Owens and Hunting Creeks. This rebuilt mill, with its restored mill-pond and race, is typical of sawmills from the "up-and-down" era. Later, the faster circular saw, introduced about 1820, and steam power forced such mills out of business. Today, sawmills are much larger and are powered by either electricity or diesel fuel.