Page 85 - Demo

83After John had taken some shots (with very long exposures due to the lack of light), we climbed the narrow, worn stairway, with its 90%u00ba turn. There was much more light trickling into this level, so we could see much better. Up here was an even more amazing assortment of oddities. Larry explained how there used to be all kinds of wonderful objects%u2014in homemade wood-and-glass display cabinets%u2014for visitors to marvel at, but much of it had been stolen over the years. What remained was a bizarre muddle of squashed ladies hats, broken sea shells, and ratty taxidermy specimens with missing anatomical features. There was also a floor loom with materials for making rag rugs, and various pieces of mechanical equipment. John was especially enjoying this part of the mill. Nearly everywhere he looked, there was something interesting to capture on film. As he shot, I talked with Larry. I learned that, after being in the same family for 7 generations, the mill had been deeded by owners Joyce and Don Andersen to the newly formed Friends of Beck%u2019s Mill in 2005. The new organization planned to completely restore the mill to how it would have looked and functioned in the late 19th century. They also wanted to restore a geode-embedded bridge, benches, shrine, and shelter in an adjacent picnic area, and create a new parking lot. The current estimate was almost half-a-million dollars. So, a serious fund-raising drive was being organized.Larry said the mill was opened in 1808 by George Beck, who came up from Kentucky. The original structure was replaced in 1825, and the present water-wheel-powered mill was erected in 1863. It had remained in operation until 1942. During its life, the mill saw duty as a grist mill, a sawmill, and a wool-carding mill%u2014and it was used also for weaving. Except for a few knob-and-tube-wired bare light bulbs, there had been almost no changes to the original building since it was first erected.When the mill began to deteriorate, Joyce%u2019s father, Major Estel LaRue Allen, who was the grandson of the last active miller, installed a metal roof to keep out the weather. However, the foundation and some of the wooden beams have continued to worsen. As a result, the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana listed Beck%u2019s Mill as one of the state%u2019s 10 most endangered historic structures.As John wrapped up his shooting, we thanked Larry for his time, and happily saw that the road crew had left us a path so we could get our SUV back up onto the road%u2014along with four-and-a-half rolls of freshly exposed film.