Dedicated on August 6, 1933, as Pugh's Memorial Park, the Old Mill is a replica of an abandoned water-powered grist mill like those used by Arkansas pioneers in the 1800s. Although it never actually operated as a mill, the authentic iron grist mill on the first floor dates to 1828 and served the Cagle family of Pope County for three generations. Developer Justin Matthews intended it to appear as the ruins of a bygone era supplanted by modern methods, and as a memorial to his friend and business partner Thomas R. Pugh of Portland, Arkansas, with its turning wheel symbolizing Pugh's tireless energy. Millstones on the second floor came from the Ashley County plantation of Tom Knoble, Pugh's grandfather. Frank Carmean of the Matthews Company designed the park, Bob Massey supervised the project, and Matthews commissioned Dionicio Rodriguez, a noted Mexican sculptor whose faux bois, or fake wood, style was perfected in its details. The Old Mill appeared in the opening credits of the 1939 movie, Gone With the Wind.