An American Grist Mill - Paperback

by Louis a. Robertella (Author)

A study in 19th Century Grist-Mill technology. From an existing mostly intact grist-mill built by Henry Stover in 1832 the technologies involved in building the mill and equipping it for high quality flour production is made evident. Computer models of all existing equipment were built on a 1:1 scale and used for illustrations throughout the book. By using this technique, certain perspectives and views impossible to be seen in the actual mill become possible. All equipment that still exists within the mill were modeled with extensive detail that could easily be missed when touring the mill structure itself. Each item is explained, using CAD models and illustrations, and are further described by photographs of the actual objects under discussion. All aspects of this now vanished technology becomes evident by reading this book and one becomes familiar with how a product now as common as a loaf of bread was produced by grist-mills using what was to become known as the "American Milling System."

Author Biography

I became interested in grist-milling during the early 1970's. After re-locating to Pennsylvania in the early 1990's I had the opportunity to explore many mill sites and learn about flour milling. After a seven year study of the Stover Grist-Mill in Erwinna, Pennsylvania, I decided to turn that study into book form in hopes of passing on the history of 19th Century grist-milling processes to future generations.