How it Works

This mill processed raw material into finished products, producing flour from grain as a gristmill while also powering a saw and, at one time, a cider mill. Amos Janney's small original mill was powered directly by the flow of Catoctin Creek, but to provide greater and more consistent power, Mahlon Janney dammed the stream and diverted water from behind the dam through a mile-long channel, or headrace, then through a sluice and gates to the top of a large wooden wheel. The weight of the falling water turned the wheel, and a series of gears and belts transferred the power of the rotating wheel to the mill and sawing machinery. Grain brought for milling was first screened and cleaned, then weighed. Initially, wheat was ground to flour between large grooved burrstones, and the machinery is believed to have followed an Oliver Evans design that used a series of cups, belts, and wheels, all operating from one water wheel, to move the grain through the mill. In 1885, roller-process machinery was installed, using a gradual reduction method that passed the grain through a series of rollers until the flour reached the desired fineness. The flour was then bolted, or sieved, to remove bran particles, and the finished product was packed in barrels or bags and hauled to market.

Waterford, Virginia · United States