The Palermo Historical Society will show a short documentary “Memories of the Mill” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, at the Worthing House, 54 North Palermo Road in Palermo. A brief business meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The Dinsmore Grain Company Mill was a historic early 20th-century mill building on Branch Mills Road in China. Built in 1914 on the site with nearly 100 years of industrial use, according to a news release from the historical society.

The mill was located just across the town line in China. The mill was a 2 and 1/2-story frame structure, rectangular in shape, covered by a gabled roof and wooden shingle siding. A three-story tower rose near the center of the southern (street-facing) facade; it was also capped by a gabled roof. The ground floor of the building housed the main works, which included a water-driven turbine and the milling equipment. A conveyor belt provided access to the upper floor, which was historically used for the storage of grain.

The first documented mill at this site was in operation in 1817, but was destroyed by a fire in 1908. Rebuilt in 1914 and at first just a grist mill, it was expanded in 1935 to also function as a sawmill and operated until 1960, according to the release.

Structural instability because of the building’s deteriorated condition made repair work difficult and potentially dangerous and the mill was razed in this summer.

For more information, call Noreen Golden at 873-4134.


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