Mills

As construction of the Upper Dam was nearing completion in August 1849, work commenced on the adjacent saw mill. Lumber for its construction was being sawed by Charles Butler in Dela Mills as this was the closest mill in operation. Once the order was complete there was only one way to get the lumber to Grand Ledge. The wood was bundled into a raft, and an Indian named “Duck” was hired to float the raft to its destination.

With the lumber under control, the men now turned to the needed iron castings. The firm of Turner Brothers in North Lansing got the contract. Once completed they were also rafted down the river to Grand Ledge, once again most likely with the help of “Duck”. The iron work was in a raw state and still needed to be drilled and fitting together. The only man who could do the work was Robert Nixon. He lived at Canada Settlement, four miles south on what is today Hartel Road. He has his own blacksmith shop and was able to do the work. So the ironwork was put on carts and dragged through the dense forest to his farm.

By December of 1849 the mill was finally complete and local trees turned into fine quality lumber. In 1850 the mill got a large order from an eastern company. Once completed the lumber was rafted down the river to Grand Haven. The contract was for 50,000 board feet of cherry at $12 per thousand feet.

In 1851 the saw mill got an order from the firm of Wood, Allen and Taylor. These local men were to build a flour mill on the north end of the dam. The site on the river bank was clear of its trees and the two story mill was soon erected. Turner Brothers again got the contract for the mill castings, however by this time a rough road had been cut through the forest.

David Taylor and his team of oxen carried all the castings from North Lansing to the flour mill. It was arduous work. It took many trips and the castings were extremely heavy. The wagon created deep ruts in the muddy road as they went. On one trip they were hauling the large spur wheel which weighed 1,500 pounds. In this case the trip back from Lansing took two days. The oxen had to pull the wagon through all the ruts made on previous journeys, and many times fell to their knees with the strain.

Once they finally reached Grand Ledge, the iron work had to be loaded on rafts and floated across to the north bank, there was still no bridge built at this time. The mill was finished in late 1851. Warren Brown was hired as the miller. The following year a great flood did terrible damage, and the mill was not repaired and put back into operation until 1853.