Cable Mill

by Geraldine DeBoer

Title

Cable Mill

Artist

Geraldine DeBoer

Medium

Photograph - Print

Description

This overshoot mill was built in 1868 by John P. Cable.
There were several smaller family tub mills through out Cades Cove. ---Cable Mill is one of the most popular stops on the Cades Cove tour. Along with all of its historic structures, it is also home to a visitor center and public restrooms. The visitor center is open from mid-April until the end of October each year. All the buildings in the Cable Mill area (with the exception of the actual mill itself) were actually moved from their original locations and relocated here.

John P. Cable Mill

It was not uncommon for entire villages and towns to be built around grist mills in the 1800s. Because of their ability to grind grains into flower or meal at a faster rate than famers could do it themselves, grist mills were vital to local economies. As a result, the town mill often became a social gathering place as well, fostering friendships, business relationships, and sometimes even young courtships.

John P. Cable built his grist mill in Cades Cover in the early 1870s. He was a descendent of Peter Cable, a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer who had arrived in the area in the 1820s and designed an elaborate system to drain the swampy lands located in the western part of the cove.

John Cable was the only person in Cades Cove to use an overshot water wheel, a gravity wheel which harnesses the force of gravity acting vertically on the water as it travels from the top to the bottom of the wheel. Cable Mill's power was supplied by Mill Creek, although a connecting channel was dug to Forge Creek so the mill could tap both streams when water levels were low.

Cable Mill took double advantage of its waterwheel by using it to power saw mills as well. This revolutionized the way homes were built in the cove, as people switched from using logs to lumber and frame construction. The Gregg Cable house still stands as an example of a frame built house in Cades Cove.

Uploaded

November 5th, 2016

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