The Old Mill on Berry College Campus in Floyd County

Mandy Smith Taylor

From the historic marker
From the mill’s construction in 1930, students under the supervision of a miller used the Old Mill to produce corn meal and food stuffs for the Berry Schools. The Republic Mining and Manufacturing Company donated the iron hub, while students built the water wheel. At 42 feet in diameter, this is one of the nation’s largest overshot waterwheels. Berry’s reservoir lake supplies water to the wheel. Gravity pushes water up the stone column and over the wheel, turning it. The old Mill has been preserved as a testament to the practical training Martha Berry incorporated into her schools.