Jasper City Mill

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Enlow Mill, circa 1825:

This pencil sketch, drawn by Jasper native, Godfrey "Godey" Lampert in 1939, shows the artist's renditiion of what the Enlow Mill may have looked like, since no photograph or early sketch exists of the first mill. The line drawing was based on a previous sketch drawn by noted Jasper historian, George R. Wilson. Wilson was responsible for gathering much of the county's early history, including the information about the first mill and its earliest owners. The sketch, however, is not entirely accurate, since it indicates a small, overshot wheel, when in fact the Enlow Mill featured a much larger, undershot wheel.

Jasper City Mill, circa 1872

This sketch is the earliest know representation of the second mill, constructed in 1865 by German immigrant, Francis X. Eckert. The drawing shows the original covered bridge over the Patoka River, the metal smokestack, and the Eckert residence across the road. A grindstone sits next to the small covered front door and steps. The drawing does not show the original Enlow Mill, which stood adjacent to the newer mill from 1865 until 1870. The drawing was signed "F. Walters."

Jasper City Mill, circa 1881:

This is the earliest known photo of the second mill, showing the original configuration of the third floor as it was constructed in 1865. The iron bridge, which replaced the earlier wooden bridge, was erected in 1879. The wooden forebay, spanning over the dam and housing the horizontal turbine wheel, was built in 1880. Three years later the mill underwent extensive renovation. Also apparent is a new brick smokestack, which replaced an earlier metal stack.

Jasper City Mill, circa 1885:

This photograph shows the mill shortly after its 1883 renovations. That year the mill was shut down for over three months, its third floor expanded, and a new system of roller equipment was installed. One can easily identify the newly-framed portions of the third floor, clad in the much lighter clapboard siding. This angle also shows a much larger covered front entrance canopy, which allowed for carts and wagons to be pulled up to the front door, out of the weather. Also evident is the wooden dam, which was eventually replaced with a cut stone dam.

Jasper City Mill, circa 1899

Jasper City Mill, circa 1905

Iron Bridge is highlighted here.

The mill became a favorite subject of photographers after the turn of the century. This beautiful photograph was taken by Sprauer Studios of Jasper and was a favorite postcard image for many years. The father-son team of Alois and Albert Sprauer were responsible for the majority of the professional photographs taken in Jasper from the 1880s to the 1960s. Without their exhaustive documentation of the families and businesses of Jasper throughtout the decades, the visual history of the community would have been forever lost.

The Mill Wheelhouse, circa 1930

A devastating flood that took place in the 1930s flooded the basement of the mill and engulfed the wheelhouse, which collapsed under pressure.

Jasper City Mill, circa 1940:

After the Eckert family ceased milling operations in the early 1930s, the building was leased by the Dubois County Farm Bureau Cooperative as a feed mill and warehouse. Electric light fixtures were also sold from an office in the building to aid in the early rural electrification of the county's many family farms.

The Flood of 1964

This aerial photograph, taken by Dubois County Daily Herald staff photographer Ernie Begle, shows the extensive flooding that took place along the Patoka River in early 1964. The mill can be seen next to the concrete bridge that had replaced the iron bridge nineteen years earlier. This flood caused the foundations of the mill to be so weakened that saving the structure was not feasible. A few months later the building was torn down. The site later became a city park.