Paint Creek Cider Mill

Needham Hemingway built the first mill at this site in 1835, using water power from the Paint Creek millrace. William Goodison bought the gristmill in 1866, and the surrounding community took his name and became a railroad stop in 1872. The mill operated under various owners until 1941. In 1945, Dale O. Miller bought the property intending to restore the old gristmill and generate water-powered electricity, but because the building was no longer structurally sound, he had it dismantled in 1953 and salvaged its original hand-hewn timbers for a new cider mill. Miller hired architects Giffels & Vallet Inc., L. Rossetti to design the building in a style inspired by Mid-century Modern and Swiss chalet architecture. Built in stages between 1958 and 1968, the new cider mill included a wheel room with an 1890s Edison bipolar dynamo generator and a Fitz waterwheel that provided water-powered electricity, followed by the cider mill itself and a later connecting addition. Timbers from the 1835 gristmill were used throughout the interior. In the 1960s, the cider mill opened as a tourist attraction selling fresh cider and donuts to large weekend crowds. Paint Creek Cider Mill Restaurant opened in the wheel room in 1983, the waterwheel was restored ten years later, and Oakland Township acquired the building by donation in 2005 and began using the second floor as office space.

Michigan · United States