Grist mills have operated in Kentucky since the late 1700s, with water-powered mills built along creeks and streams where dams created mill ponds that controlled water flow through a mill race to a water wheel or turbine, powering machinery. Grist mills such as Weisenberger Mill used large mill stones to grind corn and wheat into meal or flour. Weisenberger Mill is the oldest continuously operating mill in Kentucky. A mill has occupied this site since 1818, and the Weisenberger family has operated it for six generations. In 1865, German-born August Weisenberger purchased Payne's Depot Flouring Mills on South Elkhorn Creek and later renamed it Weisenberger Mill. In 1913, August's son Philip built the current mill. The mill remains water-powered and continues to produce flour, cornmeal, and other products.