Restored Yates Mill Park officially opens
More than 2,000 visitors attended the May opening of Yates Mill, its pond and surrounding land as a county park. Its facilities include walking trails, a new educational center and a museum.
Photo by Daniel Kim
It has been 18 years since Dr. John Vandenbergh and the Yates Mill Associates began the long process of building support to restore historic Yates Mill. In late April, the dream of a restored mill, accompanying educational center and county park became a reality.
Yates Mill Associates, the group that guided the process leading to the mill's restoration, hosted the Miller's Ball reception and dinner, bringing friends and supporters together to celebrate the accomplishment.
The ball opened with a reception at the restored mill, then moved to the educational center while a bluegrass band entertained guests. Guests wore their finest millers' attire: black tie or formal blouses with blue jeans and cowboy boots.
Vandenbergh, zoology professor emeritus in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, spoke on the occasion, also marking the 250th anniversary of the mill. It was Vandenbergh who first noticed the gradual decaying of the mill adjacent to the College's Lake Wheeler Educational Unit on class trips to the site for study in the late 1980s.
Yates Mill Associates brought partners to the table to help restore the mill. The first hurdle was getting a roof on the building to prevent further deterioration. The restoration was under way in 1996, when Hurricane Fran overwhelmed Yates Mill Pond and destroyed the mill's dam, draining the pond. It took three years working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get the dam rebuilt.
(In June, when Tropical Storm Alberto hit Raleigh, an emergency spillway constructed during the restoration helped ensure that the mill's dam remained intact. Earth and stone were dislodged, but the park still remained open the following week, although the mill itself did not run, while repairs were made.)
More than just restoring the site, Yates Mill Associates wanted to bring the public to the site. In conjunction with N.C. State University, the College, the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Wake County Parks, they worked to establish Yates Mill, the pond and surrounding land as a county park. The restoration project has been chosen to receive an Anthemion Award from Capital Area Preservation.
The park officially opened in May, drawing a crowd of 2,000. Its facilities include walking trails and a new educational center with a small museum.
Yates Mill is the only remaining mill of 40 working mills originally in Wake County. In addition to milling corn and wheat, Yates Mill was a site for cutting timber and carding wool. "It was the center of the community," Vandenbergh said. "And it will be the center of the community again, with lots of public school children coming to visit."
The new educational center offers two classrooms, one for school-age children and another for university students, as well as a 40-person auditorium. In addition, students will have access to the millpond, marsh and forest areas for environmental studies, as well as two submerged areas in the pond for sampling. The university also has 5,000 square feet of research space in the facility that is being equipped.
For more information on Historic Yates Mill County Park, visit the Web site, http://www.wakegov.com/parks/yatesmill/default.htm.
- Natalie Hampton
Yates Mill Associates, the group that guided the process leading to the mill's restoration, hosted the Miller's Ball reception and dinner, bringing friends and supporters together to celebrate the accomplishment.
The ball opened with a reception at the restored mill, then moved to the educational center while a bluegrass band entertained guests. Guests wore their finest millers' attire: black tie or formal blouses with blue jeans and cowboy boots.
Vandenbergh, zoology professor emeritus in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, spoke on the occasion, also marking the 250th anniversary of the mill. It was Vandenbergh who first noticed the gradual decaying of the mill adjacent to the College's Lake Wheeler Educational Unit on class trips to the site for study in the late 1980s.
Yates Mill Associates brought partners to the table to help restore the mill. The first hurdle was getting a roof on the building to prevent further deterioration. The restoration was under way in 1996, when Hurricane Fran overwhelmed Yates Mill Pond and destroyed the mill's dam, draining the pond. It took three years working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get the dam rebuilt.
(In June, when Tropical Storm Alberto hit Raleigh, an emergency spillway constructed during the restoration helped ensure that the mill's dam remained intact. Earth and stone were dislodged, but the park still remained open the following week, although the mill itself did not run, while repairs were made.)
More than just restoring the site, Yates Mill Associates wanted to bring the public to the site. In conjunction with N.C. State University, the College, the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Wake County Parks, they worked to establish Yates Mill, the pond and surrounding land as a county park. The restoration project has been chosen to receive an Anthemion Award from Capital Area Preservation.
The park officially opened in May, drawing a crowd of 2,000. Its facilities include walking trails and a new educational center with a small museum.
Yates Mill is the only remaining mill of 40 working mills originally in Wake County. In addition to milling corn and wheat, Yates Mill was a site for cutting timber and carding wool. "It was the center of the community," Vandenbergh said. "And it will be the center of the community again, with lots of public school children coming to visit."
The new educational center offers two classrooms, one for school-age children and another for university students, as well as a 40-person auditorium. In addition, students will have access to the millpond, marsh and forest areas for environmental studies, as well as two submerged areas in the pond for sampling. The university also has 5,000 square feet of research space in the facility that is being equipped.
For more information on Historic Yates Mill County Park, visit the Web site, http://www.wakegov.com/parks/yatesmill/default.htm.
- Natalie Hampton