The old J.T. John Mill, located south of John’s Station since the mid 1800s, was razed on Aug. 18 after suffering damage from Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and later Hurricane Florence in 2018. The first hurricane breached the dam that created the picturesque, cypress filled John’s Pond. An attempt was made to fix it, but the 25 inches of rain from Hurricane Florence proved to be too much for the pond and the mill.
It is hard to believe, today, but John’s Station or Johns was once a thriving community in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A railroad from McColl, South Carolina passed through the community of Hasty and then Johns before reaching Maxton. Hasty and John’s Station even had their own Post Offices, and John’s Station held the title of the “Cantaloupe Capital of the South” and had its own two-story brick school in the early part of the 1900s.
Older residents of the Johns area have many memories of the old corn grinding mill which at one time also doubled as a sawmill.
One 87-year-old Scotland County native, Pat Campbell Curley, now living in Florida, shared her memories of the mill with emphasis on Mr. John: “… it reminded me of something that I think happens to Tom John Sr. many years ago. The story went that his refrigerator went out and he went to town to buy a new one but did not take time to change his overalls . The transaction was made and when the subject of paying came up he was told they needed the money before they could deliver it. He told them to forget it and went home and changed clothes and went back . Apparently the clerk that had waited on him explained he did not recognize him in overalls at which time Tom let him know in no uncertain terms that whether he was in overalls or dressed as a man of means should have absolutely nothing to do with it. I never forgot the story.”
Seventy-year-old David Harling of Laurinburg recalled: “When a child, I went to the John Mill to have corn ground with my Aunt “Sister” Winnie. The cooked grits were great but were hard as a brick when cold. Our corn was yellow. It was years before I learned grits also came in white.”
Back in March, I was invited to meet with Tom John, Jr. and his sister, Helen Livingston – owners of the old mill pond and mill – as they contemplated what to do with the old mill that was then partially submerged and resting in an eight-foot deep gulley. Our extremely wet spring did nothing but make matters worse.
Fast forward to August 2020 and Randy Blackwelder of Laurel Hill brought his bulldozer and track hoe to drain the water surrounding the old mill and grade the area so that much of the mill could be salvaged.
Some water damage had been done, but some excellent wood remained.
Personally, repurposed longleaf heart pine items have more meaning when I know its history. At our home we have a heavy bench that was made from floor joists that were in my great grandfather’s home when he moved to what became Laurinburg in 1867. The floors in our den are from a nearby warehouse where my grandfather played in his childhood, another heavy bench is made of wood when some remodeling was done on the old McDougald Funeral Home in 1973, the exposed beams in the den ceiling of our home are from a home in John’s Station that was destroyed in the tornado of March 28, 1984, and our kitchen cabinets were made from longleaf pine recycled from an early 1800’s Quaker home in southern Scotland County – a gift from the late James R. McKenzie.
With recycled longleaf heart pine from the mid-1800s the trees from whence the wood came were likely growing in our sandy soils when North Carolina was a British colony or even before.
Now the roughly 8” x 8” longleaf heart pine beams and two 10” x 10” blocks from the old John’s Mill will become lathe turned wooden bowls, sanded, with an oil finish, and likely with the wood’s history laser engraved on the bottom. Crafting will begin in cooler weather. The first bowls will go to Helen and Tom, and others will be donated to local charities who may be hosting fund-raising auctions.
Scotland County has some rich heritage that was the work, intellect, imagination, and personal drive of those who came before us. Those pioneers can no longer speak with us, but the structures they left can give us a tangible, yet repurposed piece of their legacy.
Beacham McDougald is a Laurinburg resident and Scotland County historian.
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Hurricanes seal the fate of historic JT John Mill - Laurinburg Exchange
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