Millville, founded by Quaker John Eves in 1772, was named for its first commercial structure, a grist mill built in 1785/86. The community had an operating grist mill for 177 years, from 1787 to 1966, and in the early 1900's it was the second largest buckwheat processing mill in the United States. A mill structure remained a prominent part of the community for 206 years until February 23, 1995, when the third mill, built in 1852, was destroyed by fire. The grist mill drive wheels, eight feet in diameter and each weighing 2,770 pounds, were placed here in 1995 through the efforts of local residents Glen (Bud) Gillaspy and Raymond Weaver and other citizens as a permanent reminder of the community's heritage and as a welcome to the Millville Community Park.