Alley Spring Mill

by Joshua Heston

Alley Mill was constructed in 1893 by George McCaskill. Over the next quarter of a century, the mill would be owned by five different men.

When Alley Mill was first built, McCaskill used a steel turbine to make use of Alley Spring’s 81 million gallon per day flow. Ironically, the grist mill was originally constructed to grind wheat — rather than corn — into flour.

The surrounding farmers grew mostly corn, and between that oversight and the regular floods that occured at Alley Spring, the mill was comparatively unsuccessful.

Larger than many area mills (for example, Klepzig), Alley Mill was later adapted to grind corn.

“...the structure, originally unpainted, was first painted white with green trim’

By 1900, the mill had become the center of a small community which included a store, blacksmith shop, and school (with a 1903 enrollment of 42 students).

By 1925, however, extensive area logging had used up much of Shannon County’s resources and Alley Mill’s fifth owner, Conrad Hug, sold the property to the recently established Missouri state park system.

The mill had closed in 1918.

In 1971, Alley Spring and the mill became part of the national park system.

Alley Mill is built on the location of an earlier mill — named Barksdale — which was constructed in 1870.

Records indicate that the structure, originally unpainted, was first painted white with green trim. It has, however, been the signature mill-red for many decades.

Alley Mill is considered one of the most photographed mills of the Ozarks.

May 21, 2009