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http://www.virginiastar.net/articles08/ar08_0625/bushmilllandmark.html
From staff reports
It remains a symbol of
the county's historic past, and now the Bush Mill has been recognized by the
Virginia Department of Historic Resources as a Virginia Landmark.
The only restored
operational mill in the region, Bush Mill was built between 1896 and 1897 by
W.T. Frazier, Stephen Bush and William Bush. Machinery in the mill is intact.
Sometimes called Bond Mill in reference to the original owner, S.H. Bond, the
present mill replaced an older one that was located at the same site which
burned.
According to local
sources, the original mill was a log structure built on Amos Branch in the late
1800's and was destroyed by fire on April Fool's Day. Farmers working in nearby
fields were reluctant to come help fight the fire when asked because they
thought it was an April Fool's joke. After they became aware that the mill was
actually on fire, they came to help; but it was too far gone to save it.
Valentine Bush purchased
the original mill sometime in the early 1800's and also built a water-powered
sawmill upstream and a water powered wool carding machine downstream. The
original wooden water wheel was built by Franklin and James Stewart, noted
wheelwrights in the region.
At the time the mill was
built, Valentine Bush was 88 years old and was assisted by his sons, Stephen
and William. Restored in the late 1990s, the 1896 water-powered grist mill uses
stones to grind grain into meal and is open to the public during Bush Mill Days
held each October. The event is sponsored by the Nickelsville Ruritan Club.
For the past several
years, Bob Etherton, Jay Dixon and members of the Ruritan Club have worked to
earn the special designation. Their hard work as paid off last Thursday as the
Virginia Board of Historic Resources officially approved their application.
A total of 25 new
properties were added last week to the Virginia Landmarks Register by the
Department of Historic Resources. The addition of Bush Mill brings the county's
total to nine properties listed on the state historic registry.
Others currently listed
as a Virginia Landmark in Scott County are the Kilgore Fort House, added in
1972; the A.P. Carter birthplace, added in 1975; the Flanary Archaeological
Site, added in 1982; the A.P. and Sara Carter House, the A.P. Carter Store, the
Maybelle and Ezra Carter House and the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church,
all added in 1985; and the Fulkerson-Hilton House, added in 2002.
Others approved for the
state designation in Southwest Virginia in addition to Bush Mill include: St. John's Episcopal
Church, in Wytheville, during the mid-1870s to early 1880s provided educational
and spiritual instruction to black communicants after the Civil War, as part of
the Virginia Episcopal Church's mission. In August 1881, black Episcopal
minister J.H.M. Pollard preached to St. John's
white congregation, then noted as the first time in Virginia that a black clergyman preached to
a white Episcopal congregation. An imposing and architecturally-appealing
building, built in 1857, St. John's
is the oldest standing church in Wytheville and has been in continuous use for
weekly church services since its inception.
Whitewood High
School, in Buchanan
County, opened in 1941,
is an important vestige of the educational and social history of the Whitewood
community. An up-to-date high school with many modern amenities when it was
built, it was among the first high schools in the county offering educational
opportunities beyond seventh grade. The school served an important role in the
civic life of the community for generations of students, and for their families
whose social lives centered there.
DHR officials say listing
on the state and national register does provide a property owner with the
opportunity to pursue state and federal tax credit rehabilitation improvements
to a property. Such tax-credit rehabilitations must comply with federal
standards, which are administered in Virginia
by the Department of Historic Resources.
During the past few years, Virginia
has been a national leader among the 50 states in registering historic sites
and districts. The state is also a national leader for the number of tax-credit
rehabilitation projects proposed and completed each year. Together the register
and tax credit rehabilitation programs have played a significant role in promoting
the preservation of the Commonwealth's historic sites and in spurring economic
revitalization in many Virginia
towns and communities.
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