Kat went online a week or two back and ‘put us on the list’ for a ranger
led tour of the historic Boxley Mill. As
part of the 50th anniversary celebration for the Buffalo National
River, the park service has opened the mill for guided tours, every weekend in
the month of October.
We arrive early
and our group starts out a little after 10:00 led by tour guide Kevin
Middleton a retired Park Ranger. Beginning at the gate on an
old road that we learn is the actual old highway that went through the Boxley
Valley before the new paved highway
was built back in the late 1970’s, we walk back to the mill.
 |
Boxley Mill at the start of the tour
|
The mill was built by Robert Villines in 1869 just as people started
returning to the valley after the Civil War, construction took
almost a year. The Villines Gristmill
opened in 1870, the structure we see today is mostly original, other than the
siding and roofing. The mill operated
for eighty years by three generations of Villines. First by builder Robert then his son James and
finally James’ son Clyde Villines ran the mill until it was shut down around
1950 after a flood destroyed the millrace
that transported the water to
power the mill. |
concrete millrace
|
Around 1900 a small sawmill and cotton-gin were
added next to the mill,
but nothing from either remains today.
Incidentally, through its eighty years of operation the mill was always
known as ‘Villines Mill’ and was the hub
of the community. Gristmills where
generally the ‘center of commerce’ back in those days, and Villines Mill was no
exception, with area farmers and families trading and bartering produce,
livestock, baked goods and many other wares. The mill was basically a ‘community center’
where news and local events where shared among neighbors while their children
played in and around the mill.
 |
milling machinery
|
After the flood shut down the mill for good Clyde abandoned the
enterprise completely and the mill was pretty much forgotten. For over thirty years the mill slowly decayed
into ruin, but in 1972 the Buffalo National River was ‘founded’ and interest
in the mill was renewed. Finally in the
late 1980’s the NPS started the extensive restoration work, which involved
cribbing under the structure to prevent it from falling down and plumbing
(straighten up) the building which was leaning toward the creek to the
east. This is also when the shake
roofing and replacement siding were installed and when the name ‘Boxley Mill’ was adopted.
 |
millstones
|
The
water driven turbine (now gone) which was mounted outside at the end of the millrace turned the main shaft under the building. This ‘drive shaft’ had an elaborate system of
belts attached, which powered
or turned all the milling equipment. When the millstone was turning and all the
many grain elevators moving the whole building hummed and shook. Without electricity, and all the dust, it
must have been pretty dark and gloomy, not a very healthy work environment. A
small add-on built off the back was
used as office and living quarters for the lead
mill operator.
 |
grain elevators
|
Including the basement,
the structure has four stories,
but the tour only
visits the first floor with most of the mill's
equipment still as it was back
when operational. A lot more restoration
work would have to be completed before the upstairs or basement could become safe for future tours. Of course,
this would take a tremendous
amount of money, which the park service does not have. For now, we’ll just be happy that we got a
chance to see inside this fascinating piece of Arkansas and American history. |
under small add-on at back of mill
|
Leaving the mill, our group is led out to Clyde and Nellie Villines back
yard where there are three small one room cabins (originally four) that were
rented for around $2 a night to fishermen and in later years, canoeists. Clyde built the cabins after World War II,
and they were the first ‘tourist’ accommodations of the Boxley Valley. The back cabin has an extensive display of
old tools and rusty pieces of farm equipment that can be viewed through the
door. The center rock faced cabin is
closed, the front cabin is set up much as it appeared back in the 50’s and
60’s, small yet functional each cabin had a bed,
table with chairs and a woodstove along with a lightbulb. Rural electricity had arrived in Boxley
Valley in the late 1940’s around the same time that the cabins were built.
 |
fish camp rental cabin
|
This
little tour of the mill and rental-cabins is wonderful, if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend you go see it, and for a lot more information on the
historic Boxley Valley check out Ken Smith’s comprehensive Buffalo River Handbook. We
head south back out on the highway, it’s still pretty early and we should have
plenty of time for a short hike somewhere, but where? Just past the end of Highway 43 on Highway 21
is a parking area on the right with an old road heading off to the south, we
pull in and park.
 |
accommodations
|
We
have driven past this spot before and seen cars parked here, every time I would
say to myself ‘there must be something back there, someday we’ll check it
out’. I have no idea what’s ‘back
there’ but today we’re going to find out. This is definitely an old road, which later with a little research I’ll
learn is the old highway to Kingston, part of that same old highway that we walked down earlier on the tour of Boxley Mill. There is quite a large parking area here on
the old highway before reaching the three boulders blocking further vehicle
access, we back in right up to the boulders.
 |
blacksmith's forge?
|
We head out to the south, up the easy slope first passing under the
powerline with nice views down across Hwy. 21 and a field of round hay bales
beyond. After a little over 200 yards
the road curves around to the west still gradually heading uphill, we soon come
to a dumpsite
at the side of the road with an old fire-ring. Continuing the next 200 yards has a few rough
sections, but overall is still easy hiking and we arrive at an intersection
with a side road. |
Clyde & Nellie Villines house
|
Staying on the old highway we continue west and in another 150 yards or
so is the next intersection. Leaving the highway, we head downhill to the south on
a side road which is a little overgrown in places but still pretty easy. On our right we find the sparse remains of a
small house or cabin consisting of some foundation stones, a very rotted wood
beam and some scattered tin roofing. Downhill
a little further the road curves around back to the northwest and down into a
small side drainage. At the bottom the
road crosses the small creek on a stone culvert then turns back to the south
and heads uphill.
 |
forest scenery along old highway
|
Now the road becomes impassable where a large tree has fallen across the
road and thick undergrowth has filled in
all around it. I spot what appears to be
a game trail heading up the hill, so we try this hoping it will get us around
the deadwood on the road. It does, we
find ourselves back on the road in no time and heading uphill into the backyard
of an old house. The old house is still
standing, and even has glass in some of the windows, especially upstairs on the
second floor, there is also a tin-roofed barn not far from the house.
 |
roadblock
|
I want to explore the place more but have a feeling this has got to be ‘private property’, we came around from
the back side of the homesite so maybe we missed any ‘signage’ there may have
been out front. But like I said,
I just have a feeling, we
turn around here and make our way back the way we came. I’ll try to find more information on
this area, as far as ‘ownership’ goes, the area is within the boundary of the
Buffalo National River but as everyone knows, there is lots of private property
within the National Park. Our little hike today
on the Old Highway was short, just 1.2 miles with 134 feet of elevation gain, the
hike and the Boxley Mill tour were just great.
 |
old house on an old highway
|
The old Villines Gristmill better known as
Boxley Mill is east off Highway 21 back in the woods. The entrance (
old highway) to the mill is about 1 mile north of the Highway 21/43 intersection, or 3.5 miles south of the Highway 43/74 intersection.
Comments