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Show 47 ... Samuel Ensign was my foreman. Phares Wells and William Weeks, architect of the Nauvoo Temple, were prominent hands in assisting in building it. The mill had three run of burr stones and it made the very best of flour, far superior in many respects to that we find in the market of today.83 In a further reflection upon the mill, he stated, At 10 a.m. myself went to Liberty Park where Pst. Woodruff desired to meet . . . . while there I visited the old flour mill that I built for Pst. Young in l852--forty-two years ago. I found it in a dilapidated condition. I went in and saw the Same French Burr mill stones just where I placed them fortysix years ago. It brought many reflections to my mind of by-gone years. I could think of but one person living that assisted me in erecting the old mill. That man is Phares Wells who now lives in the Twelfth Ward of this city .... 84' After the decision to preserve was reached, the emotionalism surrounding the situation returned to normal. Unfortunately, although not unexpectedly, the building sat through another twenty years of benign neglect. In 1919, the city decided to convert the old mill to a Park's Department shop.85 A blacksmithy was put in the basement and the forge flue was hooked up to . the old brick chimney on the west wall of the building. To avoid the constant dampness of the mill floor, and to make room for park equipment, the basement (and perhaps the first and second floor as well), were cleared of old machinery and debris. According to an employee of the time, a water wheel mounted along the north wall of the basement was hauled away sometime after 1920. 8& Other changes from this period include expanding the millpond to form the present lake, enclosing the creek in underground conduit, adding bridges and other structures, building the aviary and paving the road east of the mill. By this time, the grade around the building had long been filled in to its present level, giving the mill the appearance of a two-story, rather than three-story, building. 87 |
