>>> IF YOU'RE TRAVELING ALONG INTERSTATE 40 IN CATAWBA COUNTY,
TAKE THE TIME TO VISIT MURRAY'S MILL.
THIS HISTORIC COMPLEX IS A GREAT PLACE TO EXPLORE WITH THE OLD
MILL, A GENERAL STORE, AND A WHOLE LOT MORE.
>> ITS MEANDERING CORRIDOR HAS BEEN WORN DOWN THROUGH TIME, BUT
THE SAME WATER SOURCE STILL FUELS THIS CENTURY-OLD MILL.
THE MILL WAS BUILT BY JOHN MURRAY IN 1913 JUST OUTSIDE THE
TOWN OF CATAWBA.
WHILE IT WAS THE LAST MILL IN THE COUNTY TO CLOSE IN 1967, IT
CERTAINLY WASN'T THE FIRST ONE BUILT IN THE AREA.
>> AT THE TIME THE MURRAYS CAME HERE, THERE WERE 17 OTHER MILLS
IN THE COUNTY, BECAUSE EACH ONE WAS ITS OWN COMMUNITY.
AT THE MILL YOU COULD GET YOUR GRAIN GROUND, YOU COULD SHOP IN
THE GENERAL STORE.
OUR MILL HAD A BARBER SHOP SO YOU COULD GET YOUR HAIR CUT AND
YOUR SHOES SHINED.
>> FARMERS ALSO SWAPPED STORIES AS A COLLECTION OF SYNCHRONOUS
GEARS, SHAFTS, BELTS, AND STONES, WORK TO GROUND THEIR
CORN AND WHEAT, PRODUCING A SLOW SYMPHONIC BEAT.
100 YEARS LATER, THEY'RE STILL TURNING THE WHEELS TO MAKE
MURRAY'S MILL PULSATE.
THE ORIGIN OF THEIR POWER HASN'T CHANGED.
THE MILL'S DAM STILL GENERATES UNYIELDING STREAMS OF STRENGTH.
BALLS CREEK POWERS THIS OVERSHOT WATER WHEEL, WHICH STANDS 28
FEET TALL AND 4 FEET WIDE, AND YOU CAN VARY ITS SPEED WITH JUST
THE TURN OF A MUCH SMALLER WHEEL.
A CONTROLLED CRANK OF THIS WHEEL, AND ONCE THE WATER BOX
GATE IS LIFTED, ITS FORCE IS UNLEASHED.
>> THE WATER WHEEL IS ATTACHED TO A DRIVESHAFT.
IT HAS A RIGHT ANGLE GEARBOX, ALSO KNOWN AS A SPEED BOX, WHICH
TAKES THE POWER AND TURNS IT 90 DEGREES TOWARDS BOTH THE
GRINDSTONES AND THE ROLLER MILLS AND ALL THE OTHER MACHINES IN
THIS BUILDING.
>> DURING HARVEST SEASON, THE MILL WOULD RUN 24/7, PRODUCING
UP TO 300 POUNDS OF FLOUR AN HOUR.
AND UNLIKE MOST MILLS THAT WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR TOOLS AND
PARTS WHEN THEY SHUT DOWN, THIS MILL'S ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT
REMAINS INTACT, WHICH INCLUDES TWO SETS OF STONES, ONE THAT'S
NOW UNCOVERED AND USED FOR DISPLAY.
THE OTHER, HOUSED UNDER A HOPPER, IS A SET OF FRENCH BURR
STONES QUARRIED OUTSIDE OF PARIS AND IS STILL USED FOR GRINDING.
>> THE GROOVES IN THE TOP ARE CALLED FURROWS, AND THIS IS WHAT
ACTUALLY GRINDS YOUR GRAIN.
IF WE WERE GRINDING, THIS STONE WOULD BE FLIPPED OVER, AND IT
WOULD SIT A HAIR'S BREATH ABOVE THE BOTTOM STONE.
NOW, I DO MEAN THAT LITERALLY.
THE MILLER WOULD TAKE A HAIR FROM HIS HEAD, STICK IT BETWEEN
THE STONES, AND ADJUST THE HEIGHT ACCORDINGLY.
>> BUT GENERATIONS OF MURRAYS DID MORE THAN JUST RUN THE MILL.
CATAWBA COUNTY'S HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION HAS HELPED PRESERVE
THEIR GENERAL STORE, A WHEAT HOUSE, AND JOHN MURRAY'S HOME,
AS WELL AS OTHER VIABLE BUILDINGS.
AND WHILE THE STORIES OF THESE HISTORIC TREASURES ARE
FASCINATING, JENNIFER MARCOURT LEACH, WHO'S SHARING THESE
TALES, WILL ALSO GIVE VISITORS A GLIMPSE OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED
HERE.
>> I WANT THEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO LIVED
HERE, WORKED HERE, DROVE THE TRACTOR INTO THE POND, MET THEIR
HUSBAND WHILE HE WAS WAITING TO HAVE HIS GRAIN GROUND.
I JUST DON'T WANT THEM TO SEE A BUILDING FULL OF CORN.
I WANT THEM TO GET A SENSE OF THE PEOPLE WHO DID THIS.
>> IN CATAWBA COUNTY, FOR "NORTH CAROLINA WEEKEND," I'M STEPHANIE
BOURLAND.