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Show ~DSIGNIFICANCE PERIOD AREAS Of SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW -.,;PREHISTOiUC -ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC ~COMMUNITY " PLANNING ~LANOSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ---,RELIGION _1400-1499 . -ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC _CONSERVATION _LAW _SCIENCE ""':1500-1599 . -AGRICULWR.E ....:.ECONOMICS _LITERATURE ~SCULPTURE ,,~:~ . .!.ARCHITECTURE . _EOUCATION _MILITARY- _1700-1799 .• ". -ART _ENGINEERING _MUSIC _THEATER X-1S00-1899 _COMMERCE XexPLORAliON/SEnLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY ~TRANSPORTATION ""':.1900- _COMMUNICATIONS ..;JIIIOUSTRY _POLITICS/GOVtRNMENT _OTHER (SPECIFY) _1600"1699 : XSOCIALIHUMANITARIAN .-JNVENTION SPECIFIC DATES 1848, 1905 BUILDER/ARCHITECT John Neff STAT-EMENT 0'= SIGNlfICAN'CE SIGNIFICANCE This site and house are significant because they illustrate the Change in land use as Utah's economy developed. In the early period of settlement the need for a self'Sufficient food supply was vital. With this need in mind, this area, with it's readily ,available water power was an ideal site for mills. When areas better sUited to grain . groWing were settle.d,milling moved to these new areas. This 'site then became attractive to . Utah's nouveau riche mining millionaires. What "''as once a pioneer milling comrrnm.i ty, changed as Utah I s ' economy dictated, into a retreat for the newly es tablished leisure class. HISTORY Long before- the Silver Queen entertained lavishly at Oakwood,John Neff built Utah's first grist mill on this site. The Neff mill was first of many flour and sawmills to be located in this area. Between 1850 and 1880 -more than 20 mills were in operation here, and the area was appropriately named Mill Creek. i JohnNeff, settled here in the fall · of 1848. He was born into a wealthy Pennsylvania family and had been converted to MJnnonism in 1840. In 1844 he visited the Mormon settlementat Nauvoo,Illinois. _ Neff and his wife,Mary Barr, were received at Joseph Smith's MansionHous~. During his visit to Nauvoo, Neff decided to establish his home there. . He returned to Pennsylvania long enough to dispose of his property. By 1846 the Neffs were back in Nauvoo in time to join the exodus to Winter Quarters, Nebraska. Brigham YOlIDg directed Nef£ to build a flour mill at Winter Quarters. John: Neff built the mill and supplied $3,500 to equip it with. Neff's Mill is credited with saving the lives .of many llirmon pioneers that winter. In the spring, Neff left his son Frank to operate the mill at Winter Quarters, while he left for Salt Lake supplied with mill maChinery and equipment. . The Neffs arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in October, 1847 and spent the winter in the fort there. The following spring Neff built his mill on the site of Oakwood. He Chose - this location be-eause the stream which ran <bwn from the canyon to the east supplied the necessary water power for the mill. .Ltunber for building was also easily secured here since -the ·area was heavily wooded. Neff's Mill first produced unbolted or tmrefined flour in December, 1848. White or refined flour was ready for sale in February, 1849. This mill was the first in the Utah Territory to use the bolting process, a sophisticated method of separating the flour from the bran and shorts. When the crickets devoured the crops of the Mormon pioneers in 1848, Neff's Mill was invaluable in producing flour from what little wheat was harvested. |
