095-0027

White’s Mill

VLR Listing Date

04/16/1974

NRHP Listing Date

09/10/1974

NRHP Reference Number

74002149
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement

A mill was established here in Toole Creek’s narrow valley ca. 1797 by Thomas Moffett. Col. James White acquired the Washington County property in 1838. The present mill was built ca. 1840 by his son, William Y. C. White, and is one of the state’s handful of operable gristmills powered by an overshot wheel. White’s Mill was built in accordance with mill theorist Oliver Evans’s guidelines published in The Young Millwright and Miller’s Guide (1795). It was expanded to include the late-19th-century innovations in roller mill machinery, making it a demonstration of the technological evolution of gristmilling operation. The original wooden wheel has been replaced by the current twenty-foot-diameter metal Fitz wheel. Most of the original wooden gears and workings are intact, however. White’s Mill, one of the most picturesque in the state, was in regular use until late into the 20th century.

Last Updated: December 4, 2023

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Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark

For additional information Read

Nomination Form

140-0038

Depot Square Historic District

Washington (County)

140-0006

Retirement and the Muster Grounds

Washington (County)

140-0039

Abingdon Historic District Extension

Washington (County)