Quick Poll

Do you give annually to the Coweta Can-A-Thon?

Related Story

Blogs

Angela McRae

Tea with friends

Deberah Williams

Everyday Finesse

Lorrie Lynch

Who's News

Published Thursday, January 22, 2009 in Local

Starr's Mill a popular attraction

By Jeff Bishop

The Times-Herald

(Editor's note: The Times-Herald's first series on the McIntosh Trail in 2008 focused on sites within Coweta County. This is the third installment in a second series focusing primarily on sites outside Coweta, as the trail originally stretched all the way from Alabama to the Ocmulgee River in Georgia. An effort is currently under way to recognize the McIntosh Trail as a Georgia Scenic Byway.)

Starr's Mill, just a few miles north of Senoia, is probably one of the most famous -- or at least the most-photographed -- sites on the old McIntosh Trail, featured in numerous magazines and even in the Reese Witherspoon film "Sweet Home Alabama."

But even though a mill was located at the site from a very early period, when Creek and Cherokee Indians were still living in west Georgia, the current structure isn't nearly so old.

The current Starr's Mill building was actually built by William T. Glower in 1907 to replace a mill that had burned. The current Starr's Mill is the third mill constructed on the property.

Although the mill is named for Hilliard Starr, he is only one of a long list of owners of the mills. John Askew originally drew the lot from what was then Henry County in the 1821 Land Lottery of Creek lands, and he sold it the next year to Hananiah Gilcoat. It was Gilcoat (pronounced "Jill-cote") who built the first mill on the property.

Gilcoat was likely born in Wilkes County, Georgia, and was orphaned at an early age. Gilcoat died young, just like his father. But before he died he built a mill on Whitewater Creek, probably about 1825. The site at the time was right on the Georgia / Creek frontier.

Gilcoat's estate mentions pieces of walnut lumber, unfinished tables and tools which lead modern-day relatives to conclude that he was a furniture maker, in addition to operating the mill. After his death, his property was auctioned off in April 1827 to Matthew Phillips.

The long list of owners during the early 19th century includes the last names Shorter, Robinson, English, Morgan, March, Matthews, and Edmondson, prior to Starr's ownership, which extended from 1966 to 1879. Then Burkett Rentfrew and William C. Parker owned the mill property in the 1870s and 1880s, with Glower acquiring the property on Dec. 4, 1888.

Following Glower, the mill changed hands three more times in the 20th century. This mill -- the building which still exists today, built on the foundation of the original burned mill -- operated until 1959, using a water-powered turbine, instead of a wheel, to grind corn and operate a sawmill.

The Starr's Mill site also included a cotton gin and a dynamo that produced electricity for nearby Senoia.

The Fayette County Water Department has owned the site since Feb. 1991. The county has used the millpond as a drinking water source since 1994 and has repaired the building's foundation and painted and fixed the roof.

A community grew up around Starr's Mill along what is now S.R. 74. (The community Post Office has been variously known as Glen Grove, Nyson, and Starr's Mill.) The first meeting of the Glen Grove Baptist Church was at what was then called "Parker's Mill," in 1887.

Eventually the Starr's Mill community would feature a blacksmith shop, a church and several stores. The militia district took its name from Starr's Mill, and the voting precinct for years was a one-room building within sight of the mill.

Today, Starr's Mill Internal Medicine, located in the old Lindsey-May plantation home just west of the mill, takes its name from the landmark.

"It's a big thing, at least around here," said Dr. Anthony Lawson, owner of the historic plantation, where he bases his practice. "The Fayette County Historical Society hosts events there, and they cover the whole history of the mill. But the big thing is that people fish and picnic there. That's the main thing."

In the 1950s local residents could purchase a permit to fish for $10 per year. By the 1970s, the cost to fish was one dollar a day. People still fish there, but now it's free of charge.

That's a good thing, according to Senoia resident Charles Robinson, because "there's no fish here."

But it is a quiet place to bring his niece and nephew to walk their dog, he said.

"The kids really like it here," he said. "Sometimes we go by Chik-fil-A and we come out here and eat it by the water. It's just a nice old place by the road."

There's also a darker side to the Starr's Mill legacy, however. Starr's Mill is the site of one of Fayette County's most notorious unsolved murders. George Lynch, the mill caretaker for many years, was found unconscious at the mill on Nov. 1, 1966. He died the next day, and an autopsy later determined that he had suffered a blow to the head.

Strangely, his wife had died at the mill on the same day, nine years earlier. Fannie Lou Lynch was killed at Starr's Mill when a car hit her as she walked across a bridge in 1957.

But Madison Hightower doesn't know about any of that. The Eastside Elementary student says she just likes to "find the seashells" with her little brother, Tray.

"We just have to be careful not to wade out too deep," she said.

Comment On This Story

Times-Herald.com does not necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Responsibility of comments rests solely with the writer. Comments posted in ALL CAPS will be deleted.

Submission of a comment does not guarantee publication. Comments will be posted by a moderator after being scanned for abusive language, relevance, etc. See our Comments FAQ for more details.