When Peter Nininger built this brick mill on Tinker Creek in 1847, he was continuing a milling tradition in Botetourt County that began with the county’s first settlers. Beside the Pittsylvania-Franklin-Botetourt Turnpike, which connected the farmlands of western Virginia with bustling Southside markets, the mill operated for decades as a quasi-public utility, offering one of the rural economy’s most important services. Like most of Virginia’s old gristmills, Nininger’s Mill was forced out of business because of an inability to compete with the modern milling complexes. The mill was converted to a restaurant in 1968, but some of the original machinery was preserved. The structure went on to serve as a private residence. A late-19th century overshot metal wheel remains in place on the north wall of Nininger’s Mill.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
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DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia