Elder's Mill Covered Bridge and Elder Mill, Watkinsville Georgia

Date added: February 09, 2024

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The Elder's Mill Covered Bridge and Elder Mill are an early 20th-century rural industrial complex in Georgia. Typical of such complexes, the Elder Mill Road site consists of a water-powered mill and a nearby bridge. Once commonplace, the existence of an intact mill or covered bridge is unusual and the combination exceptional. The only other intact mill/covered bridge complex in Georgia is Ruff's Mill and Concord Covered Bridge in Cobb County.

The Elder's Mill Covered Bridge was built using the patented Town Lattice design, one of only a few covered bridge forms used in the United States, and was built by Nathaniel Richardson, who also built several structures in the area, including the Ashford Methodist Church. The bridge had to fulfill various structural considerations to support horse-drawn and later motorized traffic.

The Town Lattice truss was designed and patented in 1820 by Ithiel Town, an architect of New Haven, Connecticut. Town realized the need for a covered bridge truss that could be quickly built by a carpenter and could sustain a substantial amount of weight. Town's design became the first truly American design for a covered bridge. The design consists of a web of light planks crisscrossed at an angle of 45 to 60 degrees, like a lattice, and fastened together with wooden pins at each intersection. The Town Lattice design "could be built by the mile and cut off by the yard." The design became the most popular design for covered bridges.

In Georgia, many bridges were built using the Town Lattice design. The Elder's Mill Covered Bridge is one of fourteen covered bridges remaining in Georgia and one of ten that are of Town Lattice construction. The ten remaining Town Lattice bridges were built from 1840s to 1906, have lengths ranging from 60 feet to 236 feet, and have one to three spans. Two of the ten bridges have been shortened and moved and one rebuilt.

The c. 1900 mill is an intact early 20th-century milling structure. The three-story, wood building is typical of the mills built in the 1800s and early 1900s with its vertical massing, lack of decoration, and its location on an incline. The building is an example of functional architecture, meaning it was built for utilitarian purposes and not for beauty. The simplicity of the exterior design belies its strength to withstand the constant motion of the mill and the weight of the machinery, much of which is still intact. Inside the mill, the large heart-of-pine timbers, as big as 12" X 14", supporting the floors, ceilings, and machinery are evidence of the building's durability.

Elder Mill is a good example of a mill that processed flour, wheat, and corn for the farmers in the area during the 1800s and early 1900s. This type of rural industry became obsolete as large-scale agricultural production and processing replaced individual operations. Elder Mill has added a considerable amount of original milling equipment within the mill. The intact main cog, millstone, sieve, grain implements, sifters, purifiers, strainers, baggers, tying machine, and wood chutes illustrate the early milling industry and the milling process.

This bridge was built during a time when road traffic was dominated by the horse. By the time the bridge was moved from Clarke County in 1924, the automobile had become the primary means of transportation. The move itself was precipitated by the growth of Clarke County and the need for road expansion which made the bridge obsolete in its original location. When the bridge was moved, Elder Mill Road's path changed so that it no longer passed directly in front of the mill. The abutments of the pre-1924 bridge still stand just east of the covered bridge marking the location of the old road.

The survival of the bridge is outstanding when considering it was built for horse travel, moved to a second location, and is still in use after more than a century of mostly automobile use. The combination of the bridge and the surviving mill, although once common, is one of only a few historic combinations of mills and bridge surviving today.

Elder's Mill Covered Bridge is listed as No. 10-108-01 in the World Guide to Covered Bridges published by the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, Inc., 1972 edition.

The Elder's Mill Covered Bridge was originally located on the Watkinsville-Athens Road spanning Call Creek now known as Butler Creek in Clarke County. The bridge was built in 1897 by Nathaniel Richardson who built several structures in the area including the Ashford Methodist Church.

In 1924, the bridge was moved to its present location spanning Rose Creek in Oconee County. The move was made under the supervision of John Chandler who numbered the web pieces, disassembled the bridge, and hauled it to the new site by wagon. The bridge was kept the exact same except for the wood shingle roof which was replaced by a metal roof at the time of the move. The bridge then became known as the Elder's Mill Covered Bridge because of the adjacent mill.

The abutments for the bridge were placed by Hunt and Durham. They positioned the bridge so that it would be high above the swift Rose Creek waters and about 100 yards upstream from the shoals that powered Elder Mill.

About 100 yards downstream from this bridge stands the Elder Mill for which the bridge and the road are named. Originally, the road passed in front of the Elder Mill; however, when the covered bridge was put in place, the road then bypassed the mill. The abutments of the pre-1924 bridge still stand just east of the covered bridge marking the location of the old road.

The Elder family moved into this area in the early 1800s and four generations of the family have operated a mill at the same location. It is believed that the earlier mill was built by Captain Phillip Tigner in the late 1700s after the Revolutionary War. The present turbine mill was built c.1900 by Shannon Elder and replaced the earlier mill that was powered by an overshot wheel.

When in operation, the Elder Mill had a capacity of ten bushels an hour and the drop from the dam to the turbine gave a 42-foot head of water. The turbine is 15 inches in diameter and the water entered through an opening 6 x 10 inches in size. With a 42-foot head of water, there was plenty of pressure to operate the turbine and the mill.

During normal weather, the flow of Rose Creek and the capacity of the mill pond provided enough water to run the mill for about eight hours after which the flume would have to be closed to allow the mill pond to fill again. There would be ample water during a rainy period and the last operator, J. Lamar Elder, once ran the mill straight for three days and nights to catch up with a backlog of grain to be ground. Mr. Elder operated on the toll system taking one-eighth of the ground grain for his efforts.

The mill could grind both wheat and corn. At one time there were three flour mills and one grist mill. Long-time resident of the area, Col. J.W. Phillips, said that it took about half a day to grind twenty bushels of wheat and that there was a store inside the mill so customers could snack on cheese, crackers, and sardines while waiting.

In 1951, the wooden dam and flume washed out during a flood. The present mill, which ceased operation in 1941 during World War II, is stable and sturdy.

Bridge and Mill Description

The Elder's Mill covered bridge and Elder Mill includes the 1897 wooden covered bridge which is 16 1/2 feet wide and 99 feet long and a c.1900, three-story, wood-framed mill. They are located in Oconee County, Georgia, five miles southeast of Watkinsville (the county seat) on the gravel Elder Mill Road, 4/5 of a mile south off of Georgia Highway 15.

The bridge was built in 1897 by Nathaniel Richardson using the Town Lattice design and rests on two concrete piers. The design consists of a web of light planks crisscrossed at a 45 to 60-degree angle, forming the lattice and fastened together with wooden pins at each intersection. The sides of the bridge are covered with wooden boards. It was originally located on the Watkinsville-Athens Road spanning Call Creek in Clarke County, and was moved in 1924 to its present location spanning Rose Creek. The bridge is in its original condition except the 1920s concrete piers and the gabled wood shingled roof of the bridge which was replaced with metal when it was moved.

The covered bridge extends 99 feet in one span with an uncovered approach 11 feet in length made of wood timbers. The diagonals are 3 x 10 inches in size and made of heart pine. There are two pins at each intersection. The trusses are 14 1/2 feet high and the overall height of this bridge is 17 1/2 feet to the ridge line. The bridge is 16 1/2 feet wide, overall. There are two lower chords and one upper chord, each made of 3 x 10-inch heart pine timbers and doubled. The bridge rests on two concrete piers which are located 10 feet on center from the ends of the trusses. These abutments were constructed by Hugh and Durham in 1924.

The floor is made of 3 x 10-inch timbers and longitudinal runners of the same size timbers are in place to provide a smooth surface for traffic and to minimize wear on the floor of the bridge. The floor sills are 6 x 10 inch timbers and the joists are 3 x 8 inches in size.

The metal roof replaces the original roof of wooden shingles. The sides are pine boards and battens. The bridge is in excellent condition. There was some restoration work done during August 1974 which repaired minor damage.

The grist mill is located approximately 100 yards east of the bridge on a steep incline sloping down to the creek. It is a turbine-operated mill that used to grind both wheat and corn. At one time it housed three flour mills and one grist mill. The mill ceased operation in 1941. Originally the road passed in front of the mill until 1924 when the covered bridge was installed and the road was moved to its present location. The abutments of the pre-1924 bridge still stand just east of the covered bridge marking the location of the old road. A flood in 1951 washed away the wooden dam and water pipes connected with the mill. There are furrows from the mill to the water where the old flume used to be.

The mill is a three-story, gable front, wood frame building with weatherboard siding, corrugated metal roof, full-length shed porch with posts and a stone pier foundation with infill. It has a central, front wood panel door, southwest side wood panel door, and double-hung, 6/6 replacement windows, some window openings do not have glass.

The interior has pine floors, exposed beams and rafters, and a substantial amount of the original milling machinery including the main cog, millstone, sieve, grain implements, sifters, purifiers, strainers, baggers, tying machine, and wood chutes. The first floor has been converted into a living space. The second floor or main floor and the third floor are remarkably intact and stable.

The property is located in a heavily wooded, rural setting on a gravel road.