People have been milling grains since early man found that grains are nutritious. Nomadic people found that grains could supplement the wild game they were eating providing variety to their diet. They possibly learned that grains have desirable, eatable cores from watching animals breaking open the hard casing of the grains to access the tender centers. At first, they accessed the nutmeats by smashing the grain against a stone with a second stone. Large stones with a depression in the top worked very well as the base stone and over time stones would have been modified to meet the need. Later, they found stones shaped like a rolling pin and used them to ground the grain with a rolling motion. The lower stone was called the quern and the upper stone was referred to as the handstone. These methods are still used in some parts of the world today. How important were mills to early man? The Bible says in Deut. 24:6 (set in the time of Moses) – No man shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge; for he would be taking a life in pledge.

The two stone method has continued to be used. Advances led to the creation of a mill with two round stones, the top one operating by rotary motion. The lower, stationary stone was paired with an upper stone with a hole in its center. The upper stone was supported by a spindle. Grain was hand fed into the center. This small mill, called a quern, provided enough meal for a family group but more quickly and required less effort than the handheld stone method. The quern at the Mill is a favorite with school students as it provides a hands-on experience for the students. It demonstrates the milling process in a manner that is fun and gives them the opportunity to touch the freshly ground flour they have just produced.

The quern process works well but bigger is better. Larger stones were used and turned, not by hand but by man-power or animal-power. Then a miller in Asia Minor conceived the idea of using water-power which met with considerable success. As the new colonies were established in America, building mills was recognized as a first order of business. Every farmer growing grain to feed his family needed a way to grind his grains into flour, so mills were built along many swift streams and creeks. Most of those mills have disappeared, being subject to fire and weather. At the Old Wye Mill we recognize that we are blessed to have a piece of history that still exists and allows us to demonstrate for new generations the ancient process of milling.