On October 30, 2018, led by Commissioner Danny Cooke, a fundraising campaign was announced to restore Norton Mill.

Among those pictured here are: Mayor Jason Bailey, Josh Jones, Union County Business and Professional Association President Martin Shafer, Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Skibinski, County Commissioners Danny Cooke, Debra Keck, Sidney Jessee, Jr., and Dawn Flatford, Roger Flatford, Billy Myers, and James “Rick” Riddle of the Winery at Seven Springs.

Martin Shafer and Josh Jones are taking the lead on gear repair, Commissioner Cooke on repairing the water wheel and local Boy Scouts on clearing the raceway.

The fundraising goal of $5,000 is needed and your contributions may be left at The Winery and/or Kitchen Design at Maynardville.

Norton Gristmill was built by Tink McCoy and began operation about 1825. Mr. McCoy sold the mill to Lewis Norton in 1860 before the beginning of the Civil War. In 1890, Lewis Norton sold the mill to brothers Brown and Elbert Norton who owned and operated the mill until the 1930s when TVA acquired the land and mill as part of the Norris Dam project. Today, the mill is known as Norton Mill. In more recent years, the exterior of the mill has been reconstructed. However, the gears inside, the stones, hopper, outside wheel and shafts are original. In 1996, Big Ridge Park received a $500 grant from the Union County Bicentennial Festival to perform some work on the gristmill.

A mill was an early gathering place. People from all over the area relied on the mill to turn their corn into corn meal. The owner of the mill would take one gallon (a toll) of meal out of each bushel ground into corn meal as payment. The mill wasn’t just for grinding corn, it was also a spot for social gatherings. People came together to chat with neighbors, trade knives, and maybe even horses. They caught up on local news–births and deaths-- and how the crops were doing. They played music and told stories. The weather was always up for discussion. A mill was one of the earliest community centers.

The mill that stands today is not the original mill. The park service reconstructed it in 1968; vintage features from the original still remain including the raceway, gears, wheel shaft and mill stones. A few years ago Norton Mill was featured as a Union County Heritage print series of an oil painting by well known local artist Betty Hamilton Bullen.

Give as generously as you can, and be sure to check out the project at HistoricUnionCounty.com