SCIOTA, Pa. — Along Business Route 209 in Hamilton Township near Sciota stands a mill that's centuries old. The building represents a community and the pride in it.
"It's one of the most photographed areas, historic places, in the entire area. People come for wedding photos or graduation photos," said Buddy Buzzard, a Hamilton Township supervisor.
The two-and-a-half-story mill was built around 1730 to grind flour and feed for local farms.
It was fully operating until 2017 and was used for educational tours.
But then two storms in 2019 and 2020 hit the mill, flooding and damaging it severely.
The destruction is something Mike Steen remembers all too well.
"We almost lost. Everything here was underwater, and it's taken a lot of time to fix, but they want to do it right."
Since the storms, work has been underway for the past three years to rebuild and restore the mill for the community. A big task was re-securing the foundation and front of the mill, which was washed away.
"The historical value for the community was well worth the amount of money put into it at this time, so we thought that it was necessary to continue with it," Buzzard said.
The mill is nearly 300 years old and has been a gathering spot for the community since it was built. That's why people say it's so important to preserve this piece of history.
"It's been here for everybody's whole lives—my whole life, my parent's whole life, my great-grandparent's whole life. It's been here forever, the center of the community forever. The pizza place is called the Old Mill Pizza," Buzzard said.
"It was kind of like a community center at one time," Buzzard said. 'There are many mills all over the country, but there aren't many that are working anymore, so it's important to preserve our heritage."
Township supervisors say they hope to reopen the mill to its original fully functioning state sometime in the fall so it can continue to be a staple for hundreds of more years for those in the community.
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