Kister's Mill

Kister's Mill 1989 by Brenda Krekeler

This mill site was established in 1816 by John Nimmon. It was later purchased by Jacob A. Kister. In 1845, Kister converted the gristmill into a woolen mill and operated it until 1875 when Daniel Methven bought the mill. Methven allowed the mill to sit inactive. In 1881 John A. Kister acquired the mill and placed it back into operation as a gristmill. In 1894, Kister replaced the mill building with the present structure.

John Kister's son George C. Kister assisted his father in the mill and eventually assumed the mill's operations. George's son Guy S. Kister became the new owner of the mill in 1934. Guy operated the mill until 1968 when he sold it to Jim Strock and John Halloran.

When the mill was rebuilt in 1894, it was designed to accommodate additional activities that included a cider press, a planing mill and a sawmill. All of these functions were water-powered. Millbrook Creek supplies the water to the 1/2-mile millrace and a pipe carries the water from the millpond to a pen stock above the waterwheel. The interior waterwheel is 4' wide and has an 18.5' diameter that provides 11 horsepower.

Today, the mill continues to function as a planing mill, sawmill, cider mill and gristmill. The area surrounding the mill is well maintained. A visit to Kister's Mill is fun because of the variety of activities. (Chidsey; "Kister Mill."; Garber).

DIRECTIONS: Wayne County. Clinton Township. From Wooster, S.R. 226 south to Kister Road, west to Millbrook, at Killbuck Creek.

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The Kister Mill, Millbrook, Wayne Co. Ohio 2012 by Bob Carter

One of the hidden treasures of the water powered milling industry is the Kister Mill in the south western corner of Wayne County. Located on Kister Road south of State Route 3 the mill is not just an ordinary water powered mill but combines a grist mill, saw mill, planing mill, cider press, machine shop lathe and two custom designed machines for making small wooden flights for wooden augers.

The first mill built on the spring fed stream was in 1816. Nineteen year old Jacob Kister walked to the area from Pennsylvania and by 1835 bought three farms in the Millbrook area and the purchase included the sites for three mills. For several years the mill race provided power for a woolen mill, converted from a grist mill. It was later revamped back to grind grain and in 1894 entirely rebuilt to include its present capabilities.

In 1967 the eighty-three year old Guy Kister, a third generation millwright, built a new wooden 18 foot 6 inch water wheel with 8 spokes, 56 buckets and a 4 foot face to replace an ageing 1925 wheel because he felt no one would have the skills in future years. Kister died in 1975 and the mill passed to several owners until Richard and Cindi Boyer bought the mill property in 1997.

The aging 30 year old water wheel was in poor shape and Richard Boyer, a tool and die maker and his carpenter father Arden, with a couple of helpers, built a new one in 2001. Neither had mill experience but the shadow of Guy Kister was over them. Kister had carefully left behind the guide boards and patterns to guide them in building a new wooden waterwheel. It was a real challenge but once set in place, it ran perfectly.

A steel pipe flume carries water from the penstock to the head gate which is operated by an ingenious system of overhead piping that has handles at each work station on all three floors to start, stop or regulate water flow over the wheel.

In its milling days it produced roller flour but in his later years before health restrictions set in, Kister produced large amounts of corn meal which was bagged and delivered to local markets by the pickup truck load. Another product was wooden potato and apple crates. The saw mill was always busy and in the fall, trucks and wagons loaded with apples were lined up along the road waiting their turn at the cider press.

Kister’s father designed and built the two machines that made the many complicated cuts to produce the wooden “flights” for horizontal wooden augers for flour. Wood was used as flour would stick to steel and these replacement flights were shipped all over the country. Kister, as a little boy, stood on a wooden box to operate the machine for his father, John Kister.

Everything in the mill is powered by the water wheel that turns a “bull wheel” inside, which then turns the line shaft. All equipment on all three floors is belt driven from the line shaft.

The mill is not open to the public but tours can be arranged by calling the Boyers at 330 567 0040. It’s one of those “must see” mills.

Photographs by Bob Carter