Turkey Point Mill

Front: Around 1850 four local businessmen opened Turkey Point Mill north of here on the eastern banks of the Catawba River. Co-owner John M. Doby provided land for the mill, which was located near the site of a Catawba Indian village known as Turkey Point or Turkey Head. After a few years his partner Rev. Adam Ivy became the mill’s primary owner. It was one of a dozen grist mills operating in Lancaster County around the time of the Civil War. Reverse: Col. J.M. Ivy became sole owner of the mill in 1875, by which time it was called Ivy’s Mill. He and previous owners ran it as a merchant mill, milling corn and wheat into meal and flour for commercial sale. It was advantageously sited near a river fall of several feet which helped power two water wheels. The mill operated at least until the 1880s and was a local landmark many years after closing. It was destroyed by the Great Flood of 1916. Only ruins remain.