Old Sykes Mill in
Clinchco
- (This article was reprinted
with permission from The Sykes
Family Website)
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- Special thanks to
Dennis Reedy,
- who drew this sketch
of the old Sykes Mill
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- The old Sykes Mill, constructed
by Noah Sykes and his sons, was located just below the railway
bridge in Clinchco. Noah's millhouse, situated on the west bank
of the McClure River, was constructed of hand-hewn logs and covered
with rived boards. It sat out over the river bank on heavy squared
timbers. A large fireplace and chimney stood at one end of the
building.
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- The huge millstones were
hewn by hand from rock in the Cumberland Mountain and hauled
to Clinchco on an ox-drawn sled by Noah and his sons. The mill
was powered by a homemade wooden turbine wheel which was enclosed
in a wooden housing to create force from the water.
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- A dam some fifteen feet high
was constructed of hemlock logs fastened together with locust
pins. Logs were placed up the river, perpendicular to the face
of the dam, forming compartments which were packed with stones
to hold the structure in place. The dam backed up the river to
well above New Camp, and was said to provide an excellent fishing
hole.
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- Initially the grist mill
was used to grind corn into meal and also wheat into flour. A
sawmill was later added to the operation, which utilized a water-powered
rip saw.
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- The mill provided area residents
with a local source for their meal and flour, and even their
lumber, until misfortune struck in 1913, when the mill was washed
away in a terrible flood.
-
- Today we are reminded of
the old mill by a stream named Mill Creek, which flows into the
McClure River just north of the millsite. Also, Clinchfield named
the first railroad tunnel below the mill the Sykes Mill Tunnel,
in honor of that early family of settlers who operated it.
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- Special thanks to the Sykes Family Website for providing us with this story.
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- This page updated September
18, 2004