Water Wheel Pictures

Frederick Graue was born in Germany, came to the United States and settled in Fullersburg, Illinois. He purchased land and began to build a waterwheel gristmill. It took five years to construct using bricks made from clay taken from the Graue farm and fired in a kiln near the site, and white oak timbers cut from a tract along the I & M canal near Lemont. The four huge one-ton buhrstones used for grinding were imported from the coast of France. The large gristmill was finished in 1852 and was used to grind the wheat, corn and other grains produced by local farmers. The mill was a major center of economic life during the 19th century and was also used by Fred Graue to hide runaway slaves on their journey to freedom in Canada. President Abraham Lincoln reportedly visited Graue Mill during a trip from Chicago to Springfield. Three generations of the Graue family operated the mill for 60 years until modern milling methods rendered the old mill obsolete and the building was abandoned. Th

Finch foundry is a tourist attraction in Sticklepath Devon, UK and here we have one of the working water wheels on location. The Foundry is owned by the National Trust and they have regular demonstrations available. This water wheel is not your normal mill, rather it powers a forge to produce mining and agricultural tools for the surrounding community. Today there are three water wheels driving large tilt hammers and grindstones.

This Old Mill is in the center of the town. It’s an early nineteenth century water mill on a medieval site where the mill building has been converted into flats. The water wheel however, has been retained.

This massive water wheel at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site provided the compressed air needed to raise the temperature of metal to its workable level.