TAKE A STEP BACK IN TIME!
LEARN ABOUT APPALACHIAN LIFESTYLE
One of the finest regional examples of nineteenth century technology can be found just three miles north of Pickens, SC. Located just off Highway 178, at 138 Hagood Mill Road, this 1845 gristmill served many generations of rural farm families until its’ closing in the mid-1960s. Hagood Mill operated during the War Between the States; The Spanish / American War; World War I; World War II;
The Korean War and part of the Vietnam War. In the 1960s, the Federal Government passed regulations requiring the farmers’ corn to be tested before grinding, and also, requiring preservatives. This effectively shut down most of the gristmills nationwide and Pickens County was no exception. In 1972 Hagood Mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 1973 the mill and surrounding property were donated to the Pickens County Museum Commission by the James Hagood Bruce family (descendants of James Hagood who built the mill in 1845 at the age of nineteen). In the early 1970s also, South Carolina was one of the states that made an exemption for water-powered gristmills to operate. Thus began a long off-again, on-again process of restoration by the County of Pickens, culminating with the mill being “back in business” on a monthly basis around Thanksgiving 1996 with the help of Alan Warner, who served as miller until 2009. Warner, a mill historian, has documented over sixty gristmill sites in Pickens County…almost all of which are now gone. The mill may be in operation during the Azalea Festival 10 AM – 4 PM.
Parking at Hagood Mill is $5
