While in Hickory, North Carolina attending the National Narrow Gauge Convention, my wife and I visited nearby Murray’s Mill



The mill was open for self guided tours.



We were given a binder of information in the general store across the street, then walked through the door of the mill to find it fully accessible and intact.



Canvas belts had been used to transfer power from the water wheel to a wide variety of machines used in the milling of corn and wheat.



Keeping all the various components in working order would have required great skill at repairing and fabricating parts.



Even keeping the mill open and on display requires a lot of work, and we appreciated the opportunity to see such a well preserved icon from a bygone era.

In October of 1985 I made a very uneducated search for any remains of the old Linville River Railroad. I was bumping along the backroads when I came across this sawmill.



I only know it was in Avery County, probably near Linville, North Carolina.



There was quite a collection of old, belt driven woodworking machines in the open sheds.



And it was not abandoned. Logs were lined up to be cut using this ancient equipment.

Back in 1984, Belle Isle was a more remote place than it is today. Access could be tricky. I normally hopped rock to rock from the south side of the river to reach it, but there was no real socially acceptable public access. On the island was a rock quarry, an abandoned steel mill, and an old Virginia Electric and Power building.

I imagine the building on the river was associated with the old power plant on the riverfront, but I am not really sure what function it performed. River water entered the lower floor of the building, and then dropped down through a large hole. A dark whirlpool, ready to devour canoes and kayaks. I would get in the place and walk along catwalks inside, looking directly down at the spinning water.





It was the kind of experience that could make anyone an industrial archaeology fan.

On the bank of Ballinger Creek stands Warren Mill



When the Richmond & Alleghany Railroad took over the old canal up the James River, they built a ferry across the river at Warren, similar to the one that still exists at Hatton.

The Chesapeake & Ohio bought the R & A, and built a branchline from Warrens Ferry to Esmont and Alberene that passed close by Warren Mill. A small section of the right of way is still in place.


Nelson & Albemarle Railroad saddle tank steam locomotives once rode these rails between the C&O interchange at Warrens Ferry and the soapstone mill at Schuyler.


Warren Mill is reflected in Ballinger Creek under the old canal aqueduct.

Between Lithia and Nace along the Norfolk & Western's Shenandoah Valley line is a place that may have once been known as Ringold, but is now called Spec.



In Spec there is a beautiful old buidling.



I have not been able to determine what kind of work was done there, though there is no shortage of clues.



There was once a railroad siding elevated on concrete piers along the side of the building. Coal cars were apparently emptied there. That would have been a convenient place for a large oven or furnace, but there is no indication (such as a large smokestack) that there was a large boiler or furnace in the building.

The back wall of the south room, behind the coal dock, has two large hearths over low arched holes in the wall close to the floor. Connected to the roof rafters is an oval track that could possibly have been used to move large caldrons in a circuit around the room.



The floor of the north room is raised. The center of the room is dominated by a carousel that hangs from the ceiling.



The remains of a radial wooden deck lays around the perimeter of the carousel on the floor.
There are also the broken remains of many bushel baskets in the north room.

Galts Mill is immediately adjacent to the old canal at Beck Creek.



Stonework at the Beck Creek aqueduct



The massive stone foundation is the only reason the mill has stood since 1813.



The water wheel turned gears which drove a shaft that powered the machinery.



The west end of the mill was a grocery and farm supply store.



Steps up to the miller's house