Historic
Scenic drives
GSMNP
Smoky Mountains Grist Mills and the History Behind Them
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, or flour mill) grinds grain into flour. The term can refer to both the grinding mechanism and the building that holds it. Four grist mills remain within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mingus Mill, a half-mile from the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in North Carolina, is the grandest. Park millers still produce cornmeal in the three-story building as they tell stories of old-time mills and millers. Cable Mill in Cades Cove is a classic small mill with its picturesque waterwheel and tree-shaded millrace. It millers, too, grind grain the old-fashioned way. Ogle and Reagan mills, near Gatlinburg, are examples of the little tub mills once built along mountain streams throughout the Smokies.