ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, October 23, 1994                   TAG: 9410260017
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-21   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MELISSA DEVAUGHN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

OLD MILL MATERIALS ON DISPLAY

An old photograph shows Pine Creek Mill, around 1938, when it was Nolen Mill. The local mill owner was considered an important member of the community, and it was not uncommon for the owner to host social gatherings.|

The Floyd County Historical Society and representatives from the Old Church Gallery have worked for more than two years on a showcase of materials from many of the historic mills of Floyd County.

Mill historians and curators Frank Webb of Roanoke and Ricky Cox of Radford University have gathered pictures, memorabilia and other artifacts from mills that once produced flour, cornmeal, animal feed, wool and wooden planks.

The exhibit will hold its opening reception today 1-3 p.m. in the Old Church Gallery House in Floyd. Cox and Webb will be on hand to answer questions.

"We're going to be grinding corn on a portable antique mill, and there will be corn bread samples," said Kathleen Ingoldsby, who along with Ann-Margaret Shortt has coordinated the event.

"We will have photographs and artifacts from almost 100 mill sites in Floyd County."

The exhibit also will feature what Ingoldsby calls "mill-isms," in which catch phrases - such as "run-of-the-mill" and "milling about" - are used in everyday language.

Ingoldsby said Webb has researched "mills that exist only in people's memories" because many of the millers dealt through barter.

"To be recorded in the deed books, millers had to have at least $500 in profits, so a lot of them went undocumented," she said.

The exhibit will be open Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m. through Dec. 17.

The Old Church Gallery House is located at 110 Wilson St., off East Main Street in Floyd. For further information, call 789-7668. 


 by CNB