Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
This recording is a community announcement rather than a formal city council or board meeting. No agenda or minutes were provided. The speaker promoted the Irvington House Museum’s October exhibit on the history of mills in Madison County and invited residents to visit the museum at 345 Lancaster Avenue in Richmond, Kentucky, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the recording opened with questions about Millstone Park, the Millstone Festival, and mill-named roads.
What's with all the talk of mills? What's the story behind Millstone Park and the Millstone Festival? Why are so many roads named after Mills? Well, come discover the history of mills of Madison County at the Irvington House Museum at 345 Lancaster Avenue in Richmond, Kentucky. Visit the exhibit Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to view artifacts and written documentation from the days when dozens of grist mills dotted the Madison County landscape. A great number of grist mills sprang up around central Kentucky in the 1780s, soon after pioneer settlement. Kentuckians built the mills along waterways to grind corn, wheat, and other grains to make flour, cornmeal, and whiskey. Each of the counties in central Kentucky had dozens of grist mills in the 1800s, and Madison County is no exception. Many road names recall the days of active mills such as Bogeys Mill, Hagan's Mill, Morin Mill, and Potts Mill in Paint Lick. The grist mills were not only locations of manufacturing, but they were also the source of community activity. Learning of news, a place to meet with friends, and to transact business. Mills were abundant and were located within a day's wagon ride, about five to ten miles from farmers and settlements. The early mills were custom mills powered by water or animals. Later, as technology developed, these grew into merchant mills, like the Zaring Mill in downtown Richmond and were additionally powered by steam. The Zaring Mill was especially popular in its time, and they liked to engage in active marketing. One account of Zaring's advertising was captured by Dr. Fred Allen Ingall Jr., an EKU professor and local historian who wrote articles documenting the history of our city for decades. In an article in the Richmond Register newspaper from January 1981, Ingall recalls a popular acronym, UZPF, which stood for Use Zaring's Patent Flower. Sounding odd to us in modern times, it was an often used quick code for the famous product from downtown Richmond. So stop by the Irvington Museum throughout October and see what else you can learn about the history right under your feet.