The Nielsen Grist Mill stands at the foot of Thousand Lake Mountain on the edge of scenic country ancient Indians called "The Land of Sleeping Rainbow." Built around 1893 for Hans Peter Nielsen by his son-in-law, Niels Hansen, it was known as the Thurber Rolling Mills. Water from the Fremont River powered the mill by dropping 22 feet through a wooden pipe to the turbine. The mill still contains a double stand of Wolf Rolls, two double stands of McNalley Rolls with scalpers under each spouted to the various elevator legs, sixteen elevators, and five reels for flour milling. Its Barnard and Leas dust collector and turbine with belting still have pulleys made of native wood, and old Howe Scales for weighing wheat and flour sacks also remain, with all equipment in good shape, including the cash register. The mill produced flour, germade, shorts, and bran from individual spouts. Farmers received one sack of flour for each three sacks of wheat, and all 48-pound bags of flour were sewn by hand with a long, sharp needle that had a built-in thread cutter. The mill supplied flour to the surrounding area for 40 years, but improved roads built in the 1930s began the end of the Thurber Rolling Mills because Wayne County could not grow the hard wheat that made the best bread, making it just as easy to truck in flour as hard wheat.