Early Grist Mill

Stice Grist Mill and Stice Shoals Dam
North Carolina 1778

"All is grist for the mill."

This was a popular proverb used by our early settlers, making profit from their land when they settled on the best spots of a stream. Grist mills were used to grind up grain into flour. Presently, we use the type of mill, i.e. flour mills, corn mill, etc.

Charles (Carl) Stice, abt. 1745 -1801, originally the German spelling Steiss, was granted the right by the Tryon County Court in North Carolina to build a “grist mill” on his land in 1778 (October 1778 Minutes of Tryon Co. Court Records). This family continued the tradition of settling and building mills on streams, as Peter Stice did in 1835 in Shelby County, when he migrated west to Missouri. Unfortunately, the latter was not deemed successful.

The original Charles Stice mill, later owned by the Duke Power, carries the name Stice Shoals Dam but still exists on the First Broad River, Cleveland County, NC, (county names have changed).

Kathleen Brandt
stradercom@aol.com