The millstones currently on display at Historic Mill Creek are the originals, and they had a wild ride to get back to the site. But also – how were they made? And how did those rocks end up here at the Straits?
Robert Campbell constructed a water-powered sawmill at Mill Creek about 1790, being the first of its kind in northern Michigan. Prior to the mill, trees were turned into lumber entirely with hand tools for more than 100 years at the Straits of Mackinac.
Watching the sawmill operate is one of the highlights of a visit to Historic Mill Creek. Seeing the original grist mill stones reunited in the American Millwright’s House is the result of good historical detective work. However, milling was the not the only enterprise at Mill Creek.
Visitors to Historic Mill Creek learn about the Campbell and Dousman families and their employees operating the saw and grist mills and farm at the site. What happened next?
Archaeological work at Historic Mill Creek began in 1972, allowing historians, naturalists, and visitors to understand what life was like at the site of Michigan’s first water-powered saw mill. While
