John Work Home and Mill

John Work, born in 1760 in Pennsylvania, came with his family to Clark County in Indiana Territory circa 1804. He purchased land along Fourteen Mile Creek in 1805 and later acquired extensive property in the county. The Federal-style brick home here was built circa 1811. Work successfully operated grain and saw mills along the creek below, including one known as Tunnel Mill. To power this mill, Work planned a tunnel to carry water through the limestone hill at the bend in the creek below. The 1833 Indiana Gazetteer gave this account: 5 men worked for 2 1/2 years and used 650 pounds of gunpowder to blast a tunnel 314 feet long, 6 feet deep, and 5 feet wide. John Work died in 1832 and is buried nearby in the family cemetery.

Indiana · United States