Before local residents organized and formed our area volunteer fire companies, a fire usually meant the loss of a building, or worse.

            Volunteer fire companies began springing up in our area in the 1890s but it would be two more decades before the first motorized truck would appear to help fight

In the mid-1880's, ice dealer J. C. Hancock built the two-story brick building and equipped it with a roller process, capable of churning out 24 barrels of flour each day.  Oswin Stahl purchased the mill in 1912 and replaced the old wooden turbine with a 30-foot, steel overshot wheel.

fires quicker and farther from towns.  Until then, it was left up to bucket brigades and horse or hand-drawn wagons to fight the often losing battles.

            There were no phones and no 911.  Many homes, barns and mills were lost to devastating fires back then.

            It was more than a century ago when the Powder Valley Mill burned to the ground.  It was a popular mill in the area, famous for its high-quality flour and was proclaimed as one of the most prosperous in the area.

            Philadelphian J. C. Hancock, the natural ice dealer, purchased the Powder Valley gristmill in 1885.  He was the one who built the 3-1/2 acre dam that many of us remember swimming in and ice skating on.  He also razed the Heiler mill and build a two-story brick building and equipped it with a roller process, capable of churning out 24 barrels of flour each day.  

            Before that, the original linseed oil mill was owned by Samuel Roeder, who converted it to a gristmill around 1860.  In 1865 he sold the mill to Jacob Heiler.  For many years after that several different tenant millers leased and operated the mill.  After renting it for a period of time, Oswin Stahl purchased the mill in 1912.  He replaced the old wooden turbine with a 30-foot, steel overshot wheel.

            On February 8, 1912, just three weeks after Stahl took ownership, disaster struck.  With more than 1,000 bushels of grain and nearly four tons of flour within the walls of the mill, a fire ignited on the second floor of the building.  

            Around 3:30 in the morning, a couple of workers passed the mill on their way to work at the nearby ice dam.  They saw a light in a second-story window, but, given that Stahl was known to work long hours filling his orders, the workers didn't think anything of it.

            About 15 minutes later, William Mohr and William Renninger passed by and

After the devastating fire at the mill, Stahl built a new two-story Powder Valley Roller mill with a beautiful mansard roof instead of a flat roof. The rebuilt mill operated well into the 1950s.

saw the light as well.  They stopped to investigate the source of the light.  What they found was a small fire burning on top of the grain elevator.  They searched for a bucket of water to douse the blaze but found none.  They ran next door to Stahl's house and woke up the miller.  Together they returned to the mill to try to extinguish the fire – but they were too late.  The fire had spread throughout the second floor.

            Together with neighbors who had responded to the commotion, they were able to remove about two tons of flour and all of the office equipment and the safe before they had to turn their efforts on saving the surrounding buildings.  In addition to the two-story building and all of the machinery, the loss included 700 bushels of wheat, 200 bushels of corn, one-half carload of flour, as well as oats and rye.

            Seeing they couldn't save the mill, all worked together and braved the cold weather to save a feed-house containing three carloads of grain and a railroad car loaded with flour.  Only 30-feet separated the inferno from the feed-house.  They saved the railroad cars and the feed-house with a hastily formed bucket brigade.

            It was believed that the fire started in an overheated elevator on the second floor.

            Stahl had the property and contents insured for $3,000, well below the cost of replacing the business.  Over time he was able to raise the Powder Valley Roller Mill from the ashes.  He built a new two-story mill.  But this time instead of a flat roof, he added a beautiful mansard roof. 

            Under a succession of new owners and operators who faced their own tribulations and tragedies, including the flood of 1935, the rebuilt mill operated well into the 1950s, making it one of the last water wheels to succumb to modern times.