Down by the Ol' Mill

There aren't many hydro-powered grist mills left.  Those remaining are primarily museums or found in parks.

The Beckman Mill is both.

As old as it is - the history is even older.  A distillery built in 1845 burnt to the ground on the shores of Raccoon Creek, six miles west of Beloit, Wisconsin.

William How used the site for a grist mill in 1868.  A grist mill grinds grain, primarily for the farmer who grew it.   He sold it in 1872.  The new owners tried their luck for ten years and sold it the Beckman family.

August Beckman and his sons ran it from 1882 until 1954.  Business peaked in the early twentieth century.  The mill pond was a great place to fish and the Beckman's charged visitors for the privilege to dip a line in the water.

But as industry grew and technology offered better ways of making flour - the small family run mills met their match.  The mill stood, empty and decaying for the better part of the next forty years.

Some friends who banded together in the late 1980s wanted to save it.  The mill was already on county property since the Beckman family sold it to Rock County in 1978.

An expert was called for an opinion.  He suggested demolition.

The Friends of Beckman Mill formed in 1990 to take on the mill and bring it back to life.

The dam which created the pond couldn't hold its water anymore.  No water source meant no power for the mill.  The structure was decaying slowly one year at a time.

Fueled by volunteer drive and determination; stronger foundations shored up the structure.  Members of the family who saved the equipment off site, gave it to the organization to restore the mill. Meticulous re-engineering went into restoring it to what it looked like in the 1920s.

That's what you'll find today.

The Beckman Mill County Park is open every day.  But to get inside the mill, the Cooperage (built to construct barrels for the former distillery and later the Beckman home), and the Creamery are available to tour on weekends May through October from 1 to 4pm.

Next weekend (Sunday, Sept. 13) will be the Mill's Heritage Day. The turbines will splash to life as the creek flows through the structure and the stones will grind away.

Today, the mll only grind corn.  You can purchase some Beckman Mill cornmeal in the gift shop inside the Creamery building.

In restoring the mill and the dam - the Department of Natural Resources required a fish ladder for two threatened fish.

So the volunteers went to work creating a series of pools and riffles for the small Redfin Shiner and
Starhead Top Minow.  Their work was so well-done, the DNR uses it as a model for other fish ladders.


The result is a combination of beauty and history in a gorgeous county park.

It speaks to the power of volunteers who out produced the mill over many years of steady progress and production.

Thanks to their ardous efforts and the continuing service of volunteer guides and others who maintain the site... we will be able to enjoy the long ago sights and sounds of work along the old mill stream.