Pigeon Forge Mill
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Pigeon Forge Mill
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The Old Mill and milldam
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| Location | Off U.S. Route 441 |
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| Nearest city | Pigeon Forge, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 35°47′18″N 83°33′15″W / 35.78833°N 83.55417°WCoordinates: 35°47′18″N 83°33′15″W / 35.78833°N 83.55417°W |
| Area | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1830 |
| Architect | Isaac Love |
| NRHP Reference # | 75001778 |
| Added to NRHP | June 10, 1975 |
The Pigeon Forge Mill, commonly called the Old Mill, is a historic gristmill in the U.S. city of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Located along the West Fork of the Little Pigeon River, the mill complex currently consists of a millhouse, breastshot wheel, and milldam, all of which are operative. The mill is the only structure in Pigeon Forge listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Now a souvenir shop and restaurant, the Pigeon Forge Mill was once part of a small industrial complex established by local businessman Isaac Love (1783–1854) that included the iron forge for which the city was named. The mill was initially used to grind grain— mainly corn, wheat, and oats— for local farmers. During the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865), the mill powered several looms which produced cloth for the military. In the early 1900s, a generator was installed at the mill which provided electricity to the area until 1930. After the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park a few miles to the south in 1934, Pigeon Forge gradually evolved into a tourist boom town, and the mill became a popular stop for passing tourists.
The Pigeon Forge Mill is situated on the east bank of the West Fork of the Little Pigeon River, which flows down out of the Great Smoky Mountains to the south and passes through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge before joining the Little Pigeon River proper in Sevierville a few miles downstream from the mill. The mill is accessible via Old Mill Avenue, which intersects US 441 near the center of Pigeon Forge. A small plaza of shops, known as the Old Mill Square, has developed in the mill's immediate vicinity.
The Pigeon Forge Mill is located on land that was originally part of a 151-acre (61 ha) plot of land granted in 1810 to Mordecai Lewis (1751–1817), a Revolutionary War veteran from Virginia. Before his death, Lewis may have erected a tub mill along the river (no longer standing). In 1817, Lewis's son-in-law, Isaac Love, built the iron forge for which the city would eventually be named. Taking advantage of a Tennessee state law that allowed tax incentives for the creation of iron works on unfarmable land, Love acquired over 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) of the surrounding country. Love mined brown hematite ore in the hills northeast of the forge, and transported the ore to the forge using ox-drawn wagons. The forge included a bloomery furnace which converted the ore into pig iron, and a 500-pound (230 kg) trip hammer that molded the pig iron into bar iron.
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