Industry on the Macacheek

Benjamin Piatt and other early white settlers established farm-related industries using the water power of Macacheek Creek. Benjamin built two dams to control the water supply and improved the head race channeling water across his land from the stream to the mills. By 1850, he was operating one grist mill, one saw mill, and a distillery. In 1910, county engineers straightened the Macacheek stream, diminishing the reliability of the water supply to the mills. Floods destroyed the remaining dam in 1913, ending the use of water for power. The Piatt family continued to adapt the mill building until it was dismantled in 1928, and all that remains is the foundation at the entrance and exit driveways.

Ohio · United States