Pears Mill

08/24/2024

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1507-Bond-St_Niles_MI_49120_M34605-15279?from=srp-map-list
This is so worth saving.

1507 Bond St, Niles, MI 49120 is for sale. View 27 photos of this 5 bed, 5.5+ bath, 5500 sqft. single family home with a list price of $299900.

06/20/2024

RUG HOOKING DEMONSTRATION: Have you ever been curious about the art and craft of rug hooking? Have you ever had any interest in learning to do it yourself? We invite you to join Marj Collins this Saturday (June 22nd) at Pears Mill, where she will be demonstrating rug hooking from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Learn how your immigrant ancestors may have employed this craft to make warm rugs for the cold hardwood floors of their cabins and houses.

Send a message to learn more

05/16/2024

Memorial Day Weekend Saturday the 25th, come and spend a day in Buchanan!

04/24/2024

MILLSTONES FROM ENGLAND: A large collection of photographs of a variety of millstones and the tools used to dress them, with explanatory text.

Building Community: Medieval Technology and American History - Project of Penn State University and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

04/21/2024

GLIMPSES OF BERRIEN COUNTY GRIST MILL HISTORY—1841: On behalf of Berrien County Sheriff A. B. Munger, notice was published of the impending auction of a 136-acre parcel of land (known as the Robert R. Atterbury property) northeast of Niles due to foreclosure, including “a grist mill and other buildings” situated on Dowagiac Creek. (Source: The Niles Democrat of Thursday, April 29, 1841)

04/19/2024

GRIST—A DEFINITION: (1)—A grain or a batch of grain for grinding; (2)—the product obtained from a grist of grain including the flour or meal and the grain offal [Source: the Merriam-Webster Dictionary]. Thus, by definition, Pears Mill is a GRISTmill.

Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb grind.

04/15/2024

PEARS MILL VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: The Buchanan Preservation Society is looking for motivated individuals (teens or adults) to help welcome visitors to Pears Mill on Saturday mornings (9 am – 1 pm, May 4 to Labor Day Weekend), to answer questions about the history of the mill and its operation, and to guide visitors to exhibits and demonstrations of interest. Enthusiasm and an outgoing personality are beneficial attributes. No prior knowledge of the mill is necessary. We’ll teach you everything you need to know. If interested, inquire with Beth Murphy (269-695-5450 or [email protected]).

04/13/2024

GOOD MORNING, SUNSHINE: On a bright April morning (4/13/2024), the west side of Pears Mill is partially hidden by last year’s leaves of a Red Oak donated by the Parrin Family.

04/01/2024

MILLPOND—A DEFINITION: A pond created by damming a stream to produce a head of water for operating a mill. Instead of creating a pond, the founders of Pears Mill diverted water from McCoy Creek to form a MILLRACE. The first known use of MILLPOND was in the 14th century (Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

In many places, the common proper name Mill Pond has remained even though the mill has long since gone. It may be fed by a man-made stream,[3] known by several terms including leat and mill stream. The channel or stream leading from the mill pond is the mill race, which together with weirs, dams, ch...

03/30/2024

MILLER & MILLOWNER—WILLIAM FRANKLIN BAINTON (1860-1931): “The death of William Bainton, 71, lifelong resident of Buchanan, occurring early this morning [Monday, November 9, 1931], took one of southwest Michigan’s most prominent and best-known residents, the son of two of Berrien County’s early settlers, Mr. and Mrs. William Bainton.

Mr. Bainton died after a partial invalidism of more than two years, the cause of death being diabetes.

The deceased was long prominent as one of the owners of the Bainton Flour Mills in Buchanan, but had been retired for a number of years, the mills being sold by the Baintons six years ago.

Site of the Bainton Flour Mills is one of the most historic in this section.

Mr. Bainton never married. He is survived by one brother, Charles, with whom he spent his latter years. The parents of the Bainton brothers came to America from England.” (Source: the St. Joseph Herald-Press of Monday, 9 November 1931)

03/29/2024

MILLOWNER—A DEFINITION: A person who owns a mill (Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Oftentimes, but not always, the MILLOWNER was also the MILLER, the person who actually ground the grain. Individual and corporate owners of Pears Mill through the years included William Beach, William Bainton, Ross Pears & Clark, Rough & Pears, the Rough Brothers & L. P. Fox, Woomer & House, J. M. Sheldon, the Pears-East Grain Company, and the Buchanan Co-ops.

03/26/2024

UNION MILLS GRIST MILL: A nice demonstration of the milling process at Maryland’s Union Mills Grist Mill.

Milling flour at the Union Mills Maryland 1797 gristmill using 200 year-old quartz millstones.