Bridge Street Girst Mill - Danville, Virginia 1771

At upper right, in this 1877 map, is the Danville water-powered grist mill built after the flood of 1850. At mill at the same location was operating in 1771. In the 1820s, the mill race was converted to the Roanoke Navigational Canal. Water power was still used as long as the proper dept was maintained for bateau passage.

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During the early 1770s, the area, which became Danville, was still a part of the English King’s colony of Virginia. At that early date, there were two water-powered gristmills at the “Great Falls” where the town was laid out in 1793. Typically, flour and corn mills were built where there was a steep drop in the water level to allow for a large water wheel, which powered the mill. Most mills were built where there were steep banks on either side of the stream. A wider dam would be more difficult to build and harder to maintain. It is not clear when the mill on the south side of Dan River was constructed. It was in operation and owned by Capt. John Dix in 1771. John Dix bought the mill and 165 acres of land in 1769. The previous owners were Thomas Wynne and his father Col. William Wynne. Col. Wynne, was operating a mill on Pumpkin Creek back in 1754 may have built this mill. On March 9, 1771, John Dix advertised to lease the mill and surrounding 165 acres. He described the mill as having a pair of Cologne Stones and a bolting cloth. This mill operated from waterpower supplied from a long race from above the falls. A wing dam diverted the river water into a race beginning near the present Union Street Bridge. This race was more than 3,000 feet with a drop of about 27 feet. This was fall enough for a conventional wooden waterwheel. A great flood washed away a mill at this location in 1850 and replaced. This mill is shown on an 1877 map of Danville. This mill was operating when Riverside Cotton Mills began operation in 1882. They later bought the mill, operated it for a time and then tore it down. They constructed another flour mill nearby. John Dix may have leased the mill at the falls. John Dix made application at the June court 1772 in Pittsylvania County to build a mill on Hances Creek. This creek enters Dan River about a mill down stream just southeast of the site of Dix Ferry and below the house where John Dix lived. See a separate article on the north side of Dan River mill.