McGrew / Hood Grist Mill

— The Blue and Gray Trail —

In 1824 Jacob Sturdier built the first grist mill in Ripley along Mill Creek. In 1853, Jacob Sayre sold the mill to John McGrew who came to Jackson County in 1844.

The McGrew mill building was a structure of about 40 ft. by 30 ft. and was two and one-half stories high. The mill furnished flour, feed,meal, and buckwheat, which were important staples of the day.

On September 3, 1862, General Albert Jenkins and his Confederate Calvary passed throughRipley on his raid of central western Virginia. They looted the mill, dumping excess barrels offlour, which they could not carry with them, into the stream. The McGrew Mill was raided byboth armies during the war. As the Civil War progressed, theviolence against McGrew from each side of the conflict steadily increased.

If you look ahead at the bridge on the far end and left side youcan still see some of the foundation stones of the grist mill.

The final straw for McGrew came when soldiers roughed up the workers and broke the steam engine that powered the mill when the water level was too low to operate the mill. During the final years of the war, he sold the mill to his son-in-law, D.K. Hood, who later changed the name of the mill from the McGrew Mill to Valley Mill. The Hoods renovated and enlarged the facility, which remained in their family until its closing in 1930.

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Show me all markers in:  Ripley, WV  |  Jackson County  |  25271  |  West Virginia  |  United States of America

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