Gathright Mill (Clarksville, Indiana)

USA / Indiana / Jeffersonville / Clarksville, Indiana
 mill, historical layer / disappeared object
In 1853 a flour mill was built by Mr. Smith and Mr. Smyser (Smith & Smyser Mill)
upstream from where the Pennsylvania Bridge would later stand. It operated through
the Civil War, but burned on August 2, 1870. R.O. Gathright purchased the site
and built a new mill, downstream from the newly erected bridge, using the same
millrace. Constructed of brick, it was four stories high and had a second smaller
building in the river alongside the millrace. This mill was operated by a turbine
waterwheel, except during high water, and was successfully owned and operated
by R.O. Gathright, J.B. Gathright and John Milton for many years. It burned about 1906.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   38°16'22"N   85°45'38"W

Comments

  • What is left of the "second smaller building" , the remnants of the rectangular brick foundation is still visible at low water stages. it is often partially covered in driftwood and debris. The Gathright Mill actually burned on May 24, 1902. According to this news brief: THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, SUNDAY, MAY 25, 1902. JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind., May 24. The flouring mill of R. O. Gathright & Co., of this city, just below the middle falls of the Ohio, burned late this afternoon, causing a loss of about $20,000, about three-quarters insured. The fire started in an elevator shaft and it is believed that tinners who were working in that part of the building accidentally caused the blaze. The mill was the largest In the city and was on the site of the first flouring mill built here. It probably will be rebuilt."
This article was last modified 12 years ago