Baking corn bread or muffins? If so, you can easily find the necessary cornmeal at any of the grocery stores within a mile or so of Historic Brookhaven. But back in the 19th century, residents of the area had to travel to a mill to secure this staple. The closest was Stephens Mill.

 

Stephens Mill, which is sometimes referred to as Stevens Mill, was located near the intersection of what is now Wieuca Road and Nancy Creek. (Nancy Creek, which runs under Wieuca Road at a point between the split with West Wieuca Road and Wieuca Overlook NE, provided power for the mill.) At the time, Wieuca Road was known as Stephens Mill Road. Wieuca Overlook, a two-street subdivision on Wieuca Road, is adjacent to the land where the old mill property and its dam once stood.

 

In the late 1800s, William H. Stevens bought over 100 acres of land from James Lowery. Stevens grew cotton, wheat, and corn. The mill was located on his land. Note, both Lowery and Stevens are buried in the historic Lowery-Stephens cemetery off Loridans Road at PATH400.

 

Eidson Mill was a little further from Historic Brookhaven. It was located aside Nancy Creek and close to the current intersection of Roswell Road and Lakemoore Drive, near the Blue Heron Nature Preserve. The mill was a grist mill, which would have ground wheat, corn, or other grain into flour. Lakemoore Drive was once known as Eidson Mill Road. The nature preserve’s Eidson Mill Trail pays homage to the mill and its owners.

 

About three miles north of Historic Brookhaven was Harts Mill. It also was located along Nancy Creek where Blackburn Park is today. It was a corn mill, owned by Dr. Christopher Columbus Hart. The Hart home stood at the intersection of Osborne and Peachtree Roads, where today the Brookhaven Dog Park and DeKalb Servies Center are located. The same location once housed the King Sanitorium and Veterans Hospital No. 48.

 

Nancy Creek, which flows from Chamblee into Sandy Springs and North Buckhead and ultimately empties into Peachtree Creek, was a popular location for mills. The water provided power for the machinery. Other Nancy Creek mills included one of the Howell’s family mills and Randall Mill.