Sunday, February 20, 2022

Looking Back: The Mills Of The Dorchester Area



Nowadays, the rivers and creeks of Saline County are used mostly for irrigation and fishing. 
But in days gone by, mills located on Turkey Creek (pictured above) and the west fork of the Big Blue River (pictured below) played an even more substantial role. (In fact, Dorchester's first electricity was generated by a dam on Turkey Creek.)

In Dorchester's pioneer days, the milling industry was a staple of the area's economy -- and the 1880s saw rapid growth of the milling business on Turkey Creek, just south of town.

In fact, Turkey Creek became recognized as "the Old Mill Stream," according to the Nebraska State Historical Society. 


Of the five mills on Turkey Creek in Saline County, two predominately served the Dorchester area. 

One was Amity Mill at Pleasant Hill. Constructed in 1870, the Amity Mill produced flour and meal -- and later provided the first electricity for Dorchester. 

The other Dorchester-area mill, Lawrence Mill, was located near the current Gilbert Cemetery.


A trip to the nearest mill, with a team and wagon loaded with grain, occupied most of a farmer's day back in those early years -- and when the weather was pleasant, such a trip often provided a holiday for Saline County settlers. This allowed farm families to picnic, as well as taking in the sights and sounds of water pouring over the log dam. 

The dams also provided excellent havens for large catfish.

The Amity Mill at Pleasant Hill was destroyed by a fire started by lightning and was not rebuilt. In 1934, the dam was removed by dynamite. 

No specific details are known about the demise of the Lawrence Mill. However, the millstones from the Amity Mill can be seen at the Saline County Museum located at Dorchester.

12 comments:

  1. This is a very interesting article. My mother was an Aksamit and her relatives were co-owners of the Zwonechek & Aksamit Milling Co. in Wilber & DeWitt. By the way, your next article should be on Gilbert Cemetery. Is it really haunted??

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  2. Agreed. This is very interesting.

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  3. We appreciate the suggestion, DC Husker.

    Once again, even we are amazed at the widespread readership of this site.

    Thanks for reading and contributing to the Times!

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  4. yes I would really like to know about Gilbert cemetary. Please tell us about it and if it really is haunted. I was scared out there when I was a teenager.

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  5. Forget Gilberts graveyard. I wonder about the strange lights I have been seeing lately. The McCook newspaper is reporting that two McCook men -- who did not want their names revealed -- saw an object neither could identify in the air over McCook early Friday morning. They described the object in the air over the Kiplinger Arena as "a round disk with a hole in the middle." "It came out of the east moving west, and then it went straight up into the clouds," he said. I have seen the same type of thing twice since last January. I live south of Turkey Creek but haven't told anyone. My family would send me to the looney bin.

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    1. During the 1950's through the late 1970's, my grandparents lived North and West of Pleasant Hill a bit North of Turkey Creek. My grandmother told us of seeing such a thing. She saw it during early morning (maybe 1 or 2 AM) looking East and Southeast out of their kitchen window. She saw it several times.

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  6. Is this the Dorchester Times or Art Bell?

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  7. You're not crazy, anonymous. I saw it also. Lucky for us I have it on video. Just click here!!!

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  8. check out this site if you want haunted stories.....

    http://www.strangeusa.com/viewcity.asp?city=Dorchester&state=Ne

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  9. I checked out that website...knew about Gilbert's Graveyard but had never heard of the High School boiler room story. Is it actually true? I'm not sure if I believe in ghosts, but sometimes there are too many stories supporting the idea. I was briefly in Gilbert's Graveyard several years ago but it wasn't completely dark...so maybe that's why nothing happened...haha.

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  10. Accompanied Grandpa fishing at the millstones on Turkey Creek in P. Hill. Many good memories!

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  11. I seen 2 stealth bombers flying really low right at dusk heading west. couldn't make out what they were until they came to a clearing in the clouds..flying really low and very fast!

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