Pettibone Creek Mills

Pettibone Creek Mills (HMDHQ)

Location: Highland Charter Township, MI 48356 Oakland County
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Country: United States of America
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N 42° 38.614', W 83° 36.627'

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Inscription

In 1846 Major F. Lockwood built a dam and sawmill on Pettibone Creek northeast of Livingston and Harvey Lake Roads. This sawmill supplied lumber to Highland's earliest settlers until it burned in 1863. In 1867 Chester Chatfield build a cider mill at the same location. He sold it two years later to John B. Crouse who used it to make both cider and vinegar. A succession of owners followed. By 1877 production had reached 2500 barrels per year. After 1880 the mill supplied vinegar to the Highland Pickle Works. The mill remained in operation until 1902. Today only the dam and millpond mark the spot where the sawmill and vinegar works once stood.

In 1856 Lockwood built another dam and gristmill on Pettibone Creek north of present day M59. It is said wagons sometimes lined up ten deep in front of the mill while farmers waited for their grain to be ground. The miller used a "toll box" to measure and take a portion of each farmer's grain as payment for his services. In later years this mill was owned by John Maugh who operated it from 1902 until the mill was sold and razed in 1943.

Highland Township's earliest village, Spring Mills, was platted in 1846. Originally called the Village of Highland, it was located along Harvey Lake Road. The gristmill, the sawmill and the cider mill, all on Pettibone Creek, gave the community the new name of Spring Mills when a post office was established in 1857. When the railroad was built in 1871 the post office and village businesses relocated one-half mile west to Highland Station. Spring Mills and the mills slowly faded into history.

Details

HM Number	HMDHQ
Tags	20th Century, Government, Industry and Commerce, Railroads and Streetcars, Settlements and Settlers
Year Placed	2009
Placed By	Pettibone Creek Chapter No. 777
Marker Condition	No reports yet
Date Added	Thursday, October 9th, 2014 at 7:13am PDT -07:00

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Locationbig map

UTM (WGS84 Datum)	17T E 285994 N 4724538
Decimal Degrees	42.64356667, -83.61045000
Degrees and Decimal Minutes	N 42° 38.614', W 83° 36.627'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds	42° 38' 36.84" N, 83° 36' 37.62" W
Driving Directions	Google Maps
Area Code(s)	248
Closest Postal Address	At or near 444 Beach Farm Cir, Highland Charter Township MI 48356, US
Alternative Maps	Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap