Prater's Mill, Dalton Georgia

Date added: August 05, 2023 Categories: Georgia Mill

Prater's Mill, which dates to c. 1859, includes the only remaining grist mill in Whitfield County, out of twenty-seven that once thrived there. Ironically, Prater's Mill was probably the first and certainly one of the most prosperous, being in its day what Dr. Gregory Jeane, author of a study of the mills of northwest Georgia, calls an "integrated mill complex." This he defines as a grist and flour mill offering other services located on the premises such as blacksmithing, cotton ginning, sawmilling, a general store, and post office. The architectural style of this antebellum mill complex, together with the 1915 house site, is an excellent example of a form of industrial architecture that has largely disappeared.

Joel Barrett sold Land Lot 231 in 1858 to Tillman Pitner and Benjamin Franklin Prater, and the deed lists a sawmill as being part of that lot. Prater, who had married into the Pitner family, built the present mill probably on the site of the sawmill. There is a persistent belief in the county among its oldest residents that Prater's Mill was established in 1855, as stated by a sign that supposedly hung over the porch. Probably, the sawmill was in operation in 1855 and this encouraged the belief that Prater's Mill was older than it actually is.

The mill originally was built to house an undershot wheel as a means of power, but Prater replaced this with a more efficient turbine. There are three turbines which once generated together 75 h.p.. As Prater prospered, he added more sophisticated machinery and processes to his mill. Although there were numerous mills in the county, people came from far distances to Prater's Mill where they were able to have their cotton ginned and horses shod while waiting for their grain to be processed. In addition, Prater provided a hostelry for those who had traveled more than half a day's journey.

The mill remained in the Prater family and was operated by family millers until 1954 when it was sold to the Church of God of the Union Assembly who hoped to make a profit for the church out of the mill. The church installed a gasoline engine for power which is the only piece of new machinery in the mill. In 1963, the church sold its holdings to Dalton Asphalt Incorporated who currently leases the mill, granary, and store to Prater's Mill Fair, Inc., an organization that holds a fair twice a year at the mill site and turns its profits back into upkeep of the mill. Corn and wheat are ground during the fair as an exhibition of the mill's workings.

Building Description

Prater's Mill and associated buildings are located on the bank of Coahulla Creek. The Prater House is located across the creek on higher ground. The mill itself is partly built over the creek and stone dam, and sits on a foundation of pilings made of stones, bricks, and recently added concrete blocks which allow for flood waters. It is basically a two-story rectangular building with a large attic story under a pitched roof. The walls are weatherboard with corners dressed by vertical boards. The roof material is wooden shingles. The front facade is a gable end, with a shed-roofed veranda running nearly the width of the facade, extended to cover the end of an addition to the west side. This is a one-story, shed roofed addition that runs the width of the west side. On the east side is another shed-roofed addition which is rather like a bay, being shallow and two stories. Both additions have small square windows, contrasting with the large rectangular windows of, the basic building. An ornamental detail is the attic window of the front facade, a five-sided window echoing the shape of the facade. The main entrance is in the lower center of the addition. Two small doors are on opposite sides of the east side addition. Doors and shutters are made of planks. Six-by-six lights have been fitted into several existing window spaces.

A crude shed-roofed structure housing two of the three turbines clings to the back of the mill, poised over a mill race with water level controlled by a sluice gate.

The interior reveals the hand-hewn pine timbers of the frame and the reverse side of the weatherboarding. Floors are wide planks. On the first floor, a raised platform occupies the middle of the floor for the machinery, a complicated array of grinders, sifters, hoppers, and sackers, crisscrossed by leather belts and auger shafts. The machinery is in good condition.

Wooden pegs are visible as the means of holding the timbers together. A quarter-turn staircase in the southeast corner leads to the second floor which is filled with more machinery including bolters and hoppers. A straight stair in the north end leads to the attic which is empty. In various spots, hand-carved wooden augers are visible through doors in their shafts. Patent dates of 1870s and 1880s can be noted on machinery with labels from W. J. Savage Company, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Richmond Mill Works, Richmond, Indiana.

The only alteration of note to the mill has been painted red. The mill was traditionally white.

The granary, a later addition, is a two-story rectangular building, smaller than the mill and probably built on the site of the cotton gin. A metal shaft connects the top story of the granary to the attic of the mill and encases a metal auger used for moving grain from the granary to the mill. The granary has a foundation of concrete blocks with two narrow spaces for trucks. The upper part has walls of weatherboard covered in spots by tin with a pitched roof of tar shingles. A stair on the north side leads to the second-story entrance. The interior is divided into eight bins with walls made of stacked two-by-fours.

The store is a one-story building, T-plan, with a pitched roof and a board and batten exterior. The interior has walls of narrow flush boarding and the floor is wooden planks. There is presently one door for the main entrance but there were two previously, and the front facade is a gable end. Windows are 6 x 6 lights. The store is presently separated from the mill and granary by a highway.

Southwest of the mill complex is the Prater House. The original structure burned in 1915 and the house was rebuilt later that year. The walls of the house are stretcher bond brick forming a one-story structure in an L-shaped plan. A veranda wraps around two sides and the entire front and has curved corners on its shed roof and wooden floor. The roof is supported by wooden piers. Windows are 1 x 1 lights with lintels of angled voussoirs that form chevrons in their centers, while the sills are made of headers. The front faces north and has a door with an arched light in the upper portion and a simple frame. The two doors on the long west side are similar. A sun porch on the back of the house is now enclosed. It has weatherboard walls and a hipped roof.

Inside the house, floors and walls are wooden boards. The original fireplaces have been replaced. A major alteration is the kitchen, which was converted to restaurant use a few years ago. The house no longer functions as a restaurant but is used as a residence by people who rent it.