Pic(k) of the Week: Old Grist Mill in early autumn afternoon

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

A restored 19th-century water-powered gristmill in Stone Mountain Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA.

Photo taken 10 October 2025.

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About the mill

The mill was originally built in 1867, operating along a creek in Fannin County in north Georgia (near the current town of Ellijay). It fell into disuse and was eventually abandoned.

In 1965, the mill was dismantled and moved to Stone Mountain Park. There, the mill and its milling equipment, including the mill house and millstones, were reassembled. Additionally, a thirteen-foot-diameter wooden overshot water-wheel and a stone millrace were replicated and put in place.
— Scenic USA.
— Stone Mountain Park.

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Photographer's Notebook

The mill is a well-loved spot in the park, easily accessible from the perimeter road. So, it took some time to capture the image without any visitors in the frame. Fortunately, I finished just as a large group of school children arrived.

The entire scene featured deep contrasts between sunlight and shadow. To capture the full range of tones, I took four separate exposures, blending them later during the editing process. Wind gusts were strong, and some of the foliage shows motion blur. C'est la da-guerre-otype!

Per Merriam-Webster, "gristmill" is one word; the park spells it as two.

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Weather Report: American Tango (Vitouš/Zawinul)
Album: Mysterious Traveler (Label: Columbia, 1974)

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• Musicians:
  • Josef (Joe) Zawinul - electric and acoustic piano, synthesizer, assorted percussion, co-leader
  • Wayne Shorter – soprano & tenor saxophone, co-leader
  • Miroslav Vitouš - acoustic bass
  • Dom Um Romão - drums, percussion
  
  
• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays.
• Photo 45 of 52, for year 2025. See a larger, hi-res version on Flickr: here.


• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II.
• Lens: Olympus M.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II R
• Settings: 14 mm; ISO 200; ƒ/5.6
• Exposure blend (4 images): 1/200 second; 1/100 second; 1/50 second; 1/25 second.


• For more from YFGF:
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• Image licensed via Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0:
  Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0
  It may be copied and/or distributed in any medium or format, but:
  • only for noncommercial purposes
  • only in unadapted form
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  • All commercial use is forbidden except with explicit permission.