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Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Visiting The Old Mill at Little Rock

Thanks for stopping by The Homemaking Party! Today I'm sharing about our trip to our state capitol, Little Rock. Our family had never been there before but Brenna had an appointment at the Children's Hospital so Jamie took a day off and the three of us went on an adventure! Thankfully, we received all good news and Brenna's heart is fine. (In an ironic twist that we won't make much of), Daddy treated her to her first Happy Meal!

I was looking forward to seeing our capitol building but since we'd left the kids home with Lynzie to babysit, we didn't want to get home too late. It was the capitol or The Old Mill. Since The Old Mill is one of my bucket list things, I opted for the mill!

Now I'm going to stall with a few pictures that are not the mill. Ha!! I'll get to that in a minute. The mill is situated in a pretty park in North Little Rock. It features many neat stone carvings that are made to look like wood, done by the faux bois (fake wood) sculptor, Dionicio Rodriguez, in the 1930s. We thought this bridge looked pretty neat and since a couple was getting engagement photos taken by the mill, we decided to start here.

Daddy and Brenna enter the bridge.

They're at the top! The carved stones throughout the park were worn very smooth and there were still some icy spots here and there so this park was not for the faint of heart!

"Dedicated August 6, 1933, as Pugh's Memorial Park, the Old Mill is a replica of an abandoned water-powered grist mill that would have been used by Arkansas pioneers in the 1800s. Although the Old Mill never actually operated as a mill, the iron grist mill on the first floor of the building is authentic and dates to 1828. It served the Cale family of Pope County for three generations. Developer Justin Matthews intended for the Old Mill to appear as the ruins of a bygone era supplanted by modern methods. 'Now completely forgotten by the hurrying world around it, the Old Mill quietly weathers the years in the depths of its secluded valley.' Matthews said of his vision. A memorial to his friend and business partner, Thomas R. Pugh of Portland, Arkansas, the Old Mill with its wheel turning symbolizes Pugh's tireless energy. Millstones on the second floor of the building came from the Ashley County plantation of Tom Knoble. Pugh's grandfather, Frank Carmean of the Matthews Company designed the park and Bob Massey supervised the project. Matthews commissioned Dionicio Rodriguez, a noted Mexican sculptor, whose faux bois (or fake wood) style was perfected in the details of this remarkable work of art. The Old Mill appeared in the opening credits of the 1939 movie, Gone With the Wind."

Brenna and I inside the mill house

1828 iron grist mill

millstone

Here it is! The Old Mill from Gone With the Wind. I like what the sign said, "Developer Justin Matthews intended for the Old Mill to appear as the ruins of a bygone era supplanted by modern methods." That's exactly the symbolism and message of the movie, isn't it?

This was such a great experience. I'm so glad we stopped!

After we hung out at the mill a little while, we made our way back around the park toward the car. Brenna found a pretty leaf and then discovered the tree it fell from. It was a great day of memories with her. I hope she'll remember our fun day out!

Thanks for stopping by The Homemaking Party! Have a beautiful week!

6 comments:

  1. Great descriptive notes with your photos--nice outing! I'm glad your daughter is okay.

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  2. I would love to go there some day. What a happy ending to your day!

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  3. Happy New Year! Love the party. I visited some links also. Best wishes, your friend, Linda @Crafts a la mode

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  4. Sarah, I just love visiting places like that! I'm putting it on my list. Thank you for hosting.

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Mrs. Sarah Coller

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