Greenville Magazine - July 2008 - (Page 59)

None of the Subers could predict that their grist mill would still be operating 100 years after it ground its first corn. Jim Suber, Willette’s son and current owner of the mill, can’t say for sure when his great grandfather Hillary first set the wheel in motion, but he reckons it to be around 1908, just before the railroad came through the area in 1910. In an age of high-tech innovation, the Suber’s water wheel – as big as the two-story building it sits next to – is endearingly old fashioned. It groans and turns slowly, splashing water from one bucket to another, powering the stone that grinds the corn inside. Grist mill technology came to our country with the earliest settlers. Streams flowing from the higher elevations made the geography of the northwestern section of our state ideally suited to the early mills. They needed to be close enough for a turn of corn to be carried a distance and remain fresh before it was converted to meal, grist or malt. Corn bread was a dietary staple in our region, and malt was used for the distillation of corn liquor. So, these self-contained manufacturing plants proliferated. The U.S. Census reports that by 1884 there were ninety-eight flour and grist mills scattered across Greenville County. Collectively they employed 114 people, who carried corn to the mill on their shoulders and delivered by mule, ox wagon or horse cart. In Batson’s “The Upper Part of Greenville County,” it says there were very few mills with more than one employee in the 19th century. Wages for these laborers ranged from thirty to seventy five cents per day. The hours worked varied with the amount to be done, and the output of the mills varied greatly. In 1850, E. Suber was producing 3,000 bushels, while only thirty years later, James Suber’s maximum capacity bushels were only 40, according to the U.S. Census. Today, Jim Suber can grind 100 pounds of corn in an hour and produces about 800 per day. In those early days, mills were made of local wood. Fires were almost inevitable, so most of the surviving mills are of stone construction. Stone mills had fires too, but often a stone building surrounding the wooden interior structure and machinery survived and could be reconstructed. When Hillary Suber went off to fight in the Civil War, he came back to find his mill had burned to the ground, leaving nothing but the stone. He then moved his operation farther down Princess Creek, which feeds into the Enoree River. That stone is still in use today. Just off Wade Hampton Boulevard, the wheel keeps turning and the corn keeps grinding, just the way it did 100 years before. Water wheels were constructed of local wood, cut and fit together. Most had cogs of wood that turned the mill, some round ones could be made out of dogwood and other flat ones would be made from oak or hickory. Batson’s research indicates that in the 1880s “James Suber’s Mill had one overshot wheel, 3 ¼ feet wide, 6 rpm.” As Upstate farm land gradually converted to residential use, the grain farms that supplied the mills began to disappear. More efficient power sources and mass production quickly overwhelmed the small local grist mills. By 1950 they were a rarity. Restored grist mills across the country have been adapted and reused as inns, restaurants, antique stores and as lovely homes. Here and there, a foundation can be found fading into a stream. But just off Wade Hampton Boulevard, the wheel keeps turning and the corn keeps grinding, just the way it did 100 years before. Willette shakes her head in mild disapproval as she gestures up the street toward Suber Road. Subdivisions are popping up all around them, at a pace that continues to surprise her. Though for now, their horse pasture, feed store and the acreage surrounding her house looks much the way it did when she was first married. Those interested in taking a step back in time may come on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.You’ll likely hear Willette’s daughter-in-law, Linda’s, friendly “Y’all c’mon in,” carry out the screen door and into the makeshift parking area. Standing at the counter in the small, whitewashed room, she snaps open white paper sacks that bear the label SUBER’S CORN MEAL. As she twists to the cupboard and deftly scoops the flour from a covered bin and pours it into the bag, you’ll notice the cast iron stove and a clutch of mismatched chairs clustered around. Willette says neighbors can often be found congregating here, ready to chat. Everything is covered with the fine white dust of corn flour, including the light of the sun that shines through the windows. Though the Subers don’t grind grits for mass distribution, several local restaurants including 33 Liberty have capitalized on the trend for buying local. Indeed, standing in the grinding room and witnessing those satiny grains of white corn slipping down from the large metal bin, you’d be hard pressed to find a reason not to indulge in the purchase of a few bags for yourself. n JULY 2008 | GreenviLLe MaGazine 59

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Greenville Magazine - July 2008

Greenville Magazine - July 2008 Contents Editor's Letter My Greenville Alone At Last Watercooler Romance Greenwood Tourist in Your Own Town One-Tank Trips In The Lead Keeping Students In-State After Hours From the Pros A Look Back Walk this Way If These Walls Could Talk Viewpoints Attorneys The Bulletin Around Town Parting Words

Greenville Magazine - July 2008

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