China Grove Roller Mill exhibit will tie into July 20 Farmers Day
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 3, 2019
- In this Salisbury Post file photo from 1983, Frank Miller bags flour at the China Grove Roller Mill. That same year, the 1903 roller mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The roller mill will offer a special farm life exhibit at this year's Farmers Day in China Grove on July 20.
For the Salisbury Post
CHINA GROVE — The historic China Grove Roller Mill will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Farmers Day, July 20, to feature its new “Farming in Yesteryears” exhibit.
Artifacts and pictures depicting farm life over more than 100 years will be on display.
The exhibit is designed to remind those who grew up on a farm of the life, hardships and joys of farm living and to teach youngsters the life of a farm family a generation ago.
The display will include planting and food harvesting; preparing and preservation of food; quilting, sewing and spinning yarn; children’s activities; and even the occasional “farmers still.”
All three stories of the mill will be open to visitors.
The China Grove Roller Mill was organized in 1883 as a combination grist mill and sawmill. In 1903, the three-story brick building that now stands on North Main Street was constructed.
The roller mill houses heavy-duty machinery that was used to grind grain. Wheat was weighed, cleaned, ground, smashed and sifted to become flour. Corn was ground and processed into cornmeal.
The equipment in the building is the original mill equipment and was in full operation when the mill closed in 1995.
China Grove Roller Mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior on Dec. 29, 1983.
Tours of the mill are offered by appointment for individuals and groups.
The mill includes an all-purpose room suitable for small parties, reunions, dinners and meetings. Call the Rowan Museum for more information at 704-633-5946.
