Murray’s Mill

Nestled just as it was more than a century ago along the banks of Balls Creek, sits this turn-of-the century gristmill with its 28-foot waterwheel.

Preserved intact are the 1913 mill itself, the 1890s Murray & Minges General Store, the 1880s Wheathouse, used as an exhibit gallery, the 1913 John Murray House, furnished to the period, and numerous outbuildings. Run by three generations of the Murray Family before discontinuing, the picturesque structures and surrounding land form the last milling complex in the county, meticulously preserved and interpreted by the Catawba County Historical Association. Inside Murray’s Mill, visitors will find original one-ton French buhr millstones for grinding corn, as well as roller mills that were installed for grinding wheat into flour. All of the mill’s storage bins, each partitioned by tongue and groove sheathing, have been preserved, too.