Jessees Mill is located beside a waterfall on Mill Creek, and nestled deep in the mountainous Clinch River Valley, in Russell County. It began circa 1851 as a single-pen log structure in which grain was processed using water power and traditional millstones. The mill was greatly enlarged around 1897 by a two-story balloon frame structure, which accommodated an extensive array of new roller mill equipment, built on top of the old log structure. Jessees Mill’s remarkably well-built and still well-intact stone dam is estimated to date to as early as 1851. Ceasing operations in 1932, the mill was significant in the local community’s survival from the second half of the 19th century through the early 20th century as a place for the efficient milling of grain crops for subsistence and local wholesale distribution. The Jessees Mill property as a whole offers exceptional potential for study and interpretation in a region where very few such resources have been preserved.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia