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The Grist Mill at Pine Mountain

Special thanks to Mr. Dan Wooley of Thayer, MO. Mr. Wooley donated the mill machinery to build the Pine Mountain Grist Mill in honor of his grandfather, Zack Barnes, who ran a water-powered grist mill and cotton gin on the Little Tallapoosa River between Carrollton and Tyus, Georgia. We invite you to enjoy the history of Zack Barnes and our new grist mill as described by Mr. Wooley:

"My grandfather started his business life as a traveling thresher of grain at about twenty-one years of age. In the early 1920's, he purchased a water-powered cotton gin and grist mill site that was located on the Little Tallapoosa River (what is now Brock Road) just north of the intersection with Tyus-Carrollton Road. He operated the cotton gin and mill for several years in the 1920's and the early 1930's. The business burned in the 1930's and a new cotton gin was constructed across the road from where the old one was located. This cotton gin was powered by steam. A new grist mill was constructed on the site of the old one. He also operated a country store at this location. The mill building is still standing at the location but the cotton gin burned in the 1960's. During the time he operated the cotton gin and grist mill, he installed a generator that was powered by one of the water wheels and, thus, had the first electric lights in rural Carroll County. The lights were a source of wonder that people would come to see from miles around. The property was sold to his partner and later sold to the Cotton Producers' Association. The mill was operated by them until its destruction by fire. My grandfather died at the age of seventy-six in 1964. Many of the pulleys and shafts, bearings, stand, etc. came from various cotton gins. The large gear wheel came from an old mill site near Lawrenceville, GA. The water wheel shaft came from an old mill site in Coweta County. The midget marvel flour mill came from a mill site near Woodland, Alabama."