We all drive down Mitchell Mill Road or refer to an area close to Zebulon as Mitchell Mill, but do you know about the grist mill and the saw mill and cotton gin powered by the water from the Mitchell mill pond? Do you know the history of the mill owners dates back well before the American Revolution and includes members to the Hartsfield family, early Methodist preachers in the area, and the man buried in the huge rock along US 401? Do you know that Mitchell Mill State Natural Area is home to rare and endangered flowers and aquatic animals and is part of the largest granite dome on the East coast?
You can learn about the history of the mill and its environs Sunday, May 22, when the Wake Forest Historical Association sponsors a talk by North Carolina State Park Ranger Gregory A. Orcutt, who has studied the flora and fauna and published a lengthy paper about the mill’s owner from 1715 onward.
Orcutt will speak in the Nancy Cullom Harris Auditorium at the Wake Forest Historical Museum on North Main Street beginning at 3 p.m. The historical association will provide refreshments following the talk and PowerPoint presentation. Everyone is welcome to the free event. Parking is available behind the museum and along the streets bordering the museum and Calvin Jones House: North Main, Walnut Avenue and Juniper Avenue.
