Missouri is blessed with old mills scattered throughout the state. Many of these have tours and have working days. Here are some that we have visited.
Alley Spring and Grist Mill Historic Site
This spring is ranked as the 7th largest spring in Missouri. We visited this spring a few times over the years. We love staying at the lodge in Echo Springs State Park. Alley Springs and Mill is an awesome experience especially early in the morning and late in the evening light. At Christmas time the bridge and other parts of the mill are decorated. This is a must to visit!
Bollinger Mill State Historic Site
We visited Bollinger MIll in 2005. It is working mill and give tours to showcase it’s capabilities. It was a warm day when we were there and some young boys were jumping off the falls and swimming.
Dillard Mill State Historic Site
In January of this year we took a Saturday to visit several of Missouri’s Mills. Dillard Mill is an amazing working mill. That was a great person working on some of the equipment and took a lot of time to walk us through the entire operation of the mill and start various pieces of the equipment and demonstrate their usages.
Reed Spring Mill is located on private property just off a small (pretty much single lane) road in Centerville, MO. This mill is an amazing picturesque mill. Visiting on a overcast, misty type, foggy day will transport you into a fantasy land feeling that you are walking through a story. It is not the easiest to find but well worth the visit. Enjoy
Rockbridge Mill is quite a drive from home (about 3 hours) so it was the longest Mill we visited on this trip. It is located on the property of Rainbow Trout and Game Ranch. Which is a lodge, an excellent restaurant and many other buildings such as the old time post office and bank. The food was very good! Inside the mill is the Rockbridge Grist Mill Club. it is open from April through October.
