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The Old Mill - OU00A3
This two-stage multi will bring you to one of the oldest settled locations in Smyrna, Gregory Mills Park.
Owner: jeffbouldin
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Altitude: m. ASL.
 Region: United States > Tennessee
Cache type: Multicache
Size: Micro
Status: Archived
Time required: 0:15 h    Distance to travel: 0.10 km
Date hidden: 2010-09-12
Date created: 2010-09-12
Date published: 2010-09-12
Last modification: 2010-10-05
0x Found
0x Not found
0 notes
watchers 0 watchers
219 visitors
0 x rated
Rated as: n/a
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Cache attributes

Kid Friendly  Quick Cache  Bring Your Own Pen  Historic Site 

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Description EN
This two-stage multi will bring you to one of the oldest settled locations in Smyrna, Gregory Mills Park.
On August 25, 1800 Constantine Hardeman bought about 900 acres of land along Stuart's Creek (today it is named Stewart's Creek). He must have settled here soon after then because he was the one who drafted the petition that led to the creation of Rutherford County in Oct. 1803. The 1810 census shows in his household 3 males under 10, 1 male 26-45, 2 females under 10, 1 female 26-45, and 7 slaves. No later than 1820 he had a mill in operation at this location. After his death in Aug. 1850 it is not clear who operated the mill until it was bought by Thomas Black in April 1859. He then his son operated the mill until a boiler exploded around 1883 or 1884. In 1888 he sold the property to Joe Black, W.E. Ward, and C.A. Ward. They repaired and operated the mill until 1892 when W.E Ward bought out the others. It was then bought by W.H. Gregory in 1894. He sold it in January 1896 then bought it back in October paying $500 more than he sold it for. They operated the mill until 1916 or 1917. By this time there was a steam powered mill in Smyrna closer to the railroad and bussiness had moved there. For a while a broom factory was located in the old mill. In 1967 the property was bought by the State of Tennessee to be used as a park. Today while the land is still owned by Tennessee this park is run by Smyrna's Parks Department.
At the first stage you will be looking at the dam that was originally built around 1800-1820, obviously repaired many times over the years. When I first visited this site I thought there was two creeks branching here. However what you see is the main creek going off to the right, the creek to the left is actually the sluice originally dug by Constant Hardeman (more than likely by his slaves). This directed the water to the turbine that spun the grinding stones.
At the second stage you will be standing on the site of the old mill. If you look over the fence you will see some remains of the foundation, probably is where the turbine sat.

On August 25, 1800 Constantine Hardeman bought about 900 acres of land along Stuart's Creek (today it is named Stewart's Creek). He must have settled here soon after then because he was the one who drafted the petition that led to the creation of Rutherford County in Oct. 1803. The 1810 census shows in his household 3 males under 10, 1 male 26-45, 2 females under 10, 1 female 26-45, and 7 slaves. No later than 1820 he had a mill in operation at this location. After his death in Aug. 1850 it is not clear who operated the mill until it was bought by Thomas Black in April 1859. He then his son operated the mill until a boiler exploded around 1883 or 1884. In 1888 he sold the property to Joe Black, W.E. Ward, and C.A. Ward. They repaired and operated the mill until 1892 when W.E Ward bought out the others. It was then bought by W.H. Gregory in 1894. He sold it in January 1896 then bought it back in October paying $500 more than he sold it for. They operated the mill until 1916 or 1917. By this time there was a steam powered mill in Smyrna closer to the railroad and bussiness had moved there. For a while a broom factory was located in the old mill. In 1967 the property was bought by the State of Tennessee to be used as a park. Today while the land is still owned by Tennessee this park is run by Smyrna's Parks Department.


At the first stage you will be looking at the dam that was originally built around 1800-1820, obviously repaired many times over the years. When I first visited this site I thought there was two creeks branching here. However what you see is the main creek going off to the right, the creek to the left is actually the sluice originally dug by Constant Hardeman (more than likely by his slaves). This directed the water to the turbine that spun the grinding stones.


At the second stage you will be standing on the site of the old mill. If you look over the fence you will see some remains of the foundation, probably is where the turbine sat.

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