"Working Places/Places that Work"

8th Annual Preservation Week 2006 Photo-Essay Competition

1st Place: Brenda Kirkpatick, 11th Grade, Woodford County High School

I have driven past “the Mill” perhaps hundreds of times in my life and always thought of it as a rag-tag old building, nothing more. But as I investigated old Guyn’s Mill in southern Woodford County, I began to realize a gristmill isn’t such an ordinary thing. It hasn’t always been a weathered building on a lonely road. Rather, hundreds of people sought the mill’s services as they traveled up the busy Harrodsburg Turnpike, building a large, family-owned enterprise to support generations to come. For the past 136 years, the Guyn’s Mill building has served the community and will hopefully continue its services in the future as a home for local business.

Guyn’s Mill lies on the unmarked, one-lane road known as Paul’s Mill Road; few motorists use it. According to Col. Hubbuch, a local historian, the Harrodsburg Turnpike ran past the mill in the 19th century, attracting business from travelers heading to the larger towns. In the 1950s, the Harrodsburg Turnpike was re-routed and renamed, dooming the mill to its current solitary existence away from traffic. The nearly three story building lies halfway down this modern yet tree-line road, among the thick woods and neighbored by partially fallen, limestone fences, all covered in tangled, ivy-like vines. To the back of the mill, Clear Creek gently flows, not forty feet away. To the west side, the boiler stands on limestone supports and attached to the steam engine that once turned the enormous gears still located in the basement. The road winds past the front side, bending around a deteriorated, rectangular log building previously known as the blacksmith’s shop. Behind the shop, about 200 feet away, a small log house with a rotten roof and crumbling chimney stands covered in creeping vines, all that is left of the Miller’s residence. Across the creek, a matching sawmill features the same faded clapboard siding, rusted steel roof, and post-and-beam construction. (Gordon 2)

The mill itself has patched windows boarded up with plywood, something that has always tempted me to see what’s hidden inside. It lacks a porch but has numerous doors, two facing the road. A bleak appearance, blending in with the surrounding wilderness, meets the unobservant eye. The treasure lies inside. This milling equipment is virtually untouched, as if someone simply walked away years earlier after grinding his neighbor’s wheat. The heavy, solid beams and rafters, however, deceive all signs of weakness. Plain boards make up the floor and cover the walls. This seemingly simple mill, in fact, could be part of the most significant historic complexes in central Kentucky (Davis 35).

Guyn’s Mill was built in 1870 by William Rankin Guyn (1839-1927), adding on to the existing businesses the family owned. He was the grandchild of Robert Guyn (1744-1818) who was one of the first to settle this portion of the county (Bond 88). Over time, he helped to develop a bustling community, starting with a sawmill. William Guyn built the gristmill and blacksmith shop, operating them with the help of his brother Moses. Eventually, his children took over the two businesses, as the sawmill and general store, all owned by the Guyn family (Gordon 3).

Interestingly, this centralized, rural, family-owned industrial complex is one of the most intact in the state (NPS). With the sawmill, blacksmith’s shop, general store, and gristmill, it serves as a standing example of rural industry in the 19th century (Davis 35). The mill itself shows the evolution in gristmills over the century. Even though the mill was next to dammed creek, it was powered in later years by a steam engine, showing the progression in mill technology brought about in this era.

By the year 1920, the mill closed as another era came about. Farmers were marketing their grain in larger towns as the automobile revolutionized transportation. For more than 60 years, Guyn’s Mill sat vacant with sifters, blowers, and augers still in place. However, in the 1980s, Prajna Construction and Design renovated Guyn’s Mill to house their woodworking shop.

Today, Prajna still resides in the improved Guyn’s Mill. In the future, they will hopefully continue to use the building as their woodworking shop, or the mill will house other businesses. Also, the entire Guyn’s Mill historic district could be restored as a tourism magnet. With all the machinery still intact, restoration is feasible not only for the mill, but also the surrounding complexes. The Guyn’s Mill complex could serve as a living model of 19th century rural industry while also bringing revenue to Woodford County. In turn, this revenue could be used in restoring other historical businesses in the county, educating future generations of their historical significance.

Guyn’s Mill has been invaluable to the past, serving hundreds of farmers, and to the present, housing a prominent business. It served hundreds of people that brought their grain down the Harrodsburg Turnpike. People today have homes built out of the services of Prajna Construction. In the future, it may continue to house businesses. More certainly, however, I will see Guyn’s Mill differently than before. It is more that an old mill. Instead, it was, is, and could be a place of opportunity and possibility, an embodiment of past enterprise. It is, most importantly, tangible history.

Work Cited

Bond, Cash. History of Southern Woodford County. 1st ed. Versailles.
Davis, John Steele. “On the Road Tour” of Southern Woodford County. 1st ed.
Versailles: Lynn Blueprint & Supply, 2001.
Gordon, Steven C. National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form:
Guyn’s Mill Historic District. Frankfort: Kentucky Heritage Council, 1983.
Hubbuch, Col. Dr. Behrel William. Personal Interveiw. 19 Feb. 2006

This essay and photograph(s) are the property of Preservation Kentucky, Inc. and Kentucky Heritage Council and that any use of the photo or essay must be approved by PK and KHC.