John Work House and Mill Site - Mill Days

Mill Days

The house was built in 1811. John Work (b. December 9, 1760) used virgin poplar forest to make 4 inches (100 mm) by 8 inches (200 mm) boards. It was originally two story/six room house with chimney for each room that if built today would cost several million dollars.

In 1814 John Work (1760–1834) decided to build a new gristmill, to replace the one he had bought in 1804 from the brothers John and James Bates, for which he paid $10 an acre 100 acres (0.40 km2), but needed repair. It was near the only road leading from Charlestown and New Washington to the growing Madison. Spotting where Fourteen Mile Creek made a S-curve around a limestone ridge and then dropped drastically, five miles (8 km) upcreek from the Ohio River, he decided to create a tunnel through a spur of a hill to act as a mill race, which would mean a better source of water to power his mill. The race was completed in 1816, and the mill itself in 1818. A total of 650 pounds (290 kg) of powder made from saltpeter was used for the tunneling. The total cost was estimated at $3,300. The race was 6 feet (1.8 m) deep and 5 feet (1.5 m) wide; a 200 lb (91 kg) man reportedly rode through it on opening day. A dam was later built for better year around use. Work would be credited for building three more mills upstream.

The mill started operating in 1819. The mill was ideally situated by being a day's ride from New Albany and Madison, the second and third largest cities in Indiana at the time, and for being so close to Ohio River landings. A sawmill was added to the mill, as was a saltworks, powdermill, and still. Tunnel Mill was also the first mill in the region to use a series of elevators to move corn called the Evans and Ellicott's machinery, which made milling the work of two people instead of six, a great technological advantage over those who had to carry sacks of corn all the way to the top of the mill so it could be milled step by step. The mill was able to handle 2.5 barrels of corn an hour. Soon after being built, Work's Mill was the most profitable and efficient in the area. Even after most local small mills closed due to not being able to compete with large urban mills, the Tunnel Mill still operated.

After Work's death on February 1, 1832, the mill would pass through the hands of several owners, and would change with the times. The Mill under Work was a custom mill, where farmer's would just send corn for their own personal use. Future owners would make the mill a merchant mill, where farmers would sell the corn to a mill and the mill would process the corn to sell for itself in various forms, from flour to grits to flakes. Some of this would be shipped on the Ohio and the Mississippi River. The original mill wheel was made of oak, but in the mid-19th century the wheels became metal, as wooden wheels only lasted 5–10 years before needing major repairs. When John Hunt Morgan did his 1863 Raid the mill was seen as being in dangered, as Morgan ransomed other Indiana mills such as Beck's Mill. An addition was added to the house in the 1860s.

The mill would remain in operation in the 1920s as the sole remaining operating gristmill in Clark County, but would be sparsely used as mills in Louisville were cleaner and more efficient due to their modern technology. However, the mill was often used as a bathing house for those who liked to swim in the creek. On August 1, 1927, a fire destroyed the mill building. No one knows if it was started by a discarded cigarette, by one of the swimmers, or by the last owner, Henry Murphy, who reportedly had a history of his properties burning. Plans to rebuild the mill in 1958 and 1981 were never realized, although the 1990s did see the addition of a garage to the house.

There were plans for development to occur on the property. In 1904 three developers from Jeffersonville planned an inter-urban trolley line between Charlestown and Madison, and would have placed a fifty-foot hydroelectric dam where the mill's dam would be, which would have made a 100-acre (0.40 km2) lake, for which could be use for public recreation. Engineers at the time decided it was not feasible. The plan was brought back in 1921, but it was also a failure. 1935 would see the last attempt of such a project, but while a new dam was finished in 1936, it produced no electricity. In 1940 rural electrification finally powered the property.