Phoenix Mills
E of Steuben on Mill Rd., Steuben, OHThe Phoenix gristmill has or had a number of unique construction features, and is the only remaining mill structure in Huron County.
In 1835 Ezra Smith built a frame mill on the site of the existing mill. This building burned prior to 1856. The present mill was constructed by Barnett Roe of Steuben in 1856. Because the Phoenix Mills arose from the ashes. of the Smith Mill, the builder gave the mills the name of the mythological bird. The use of stone for the entire external structure, including corbels, brackets, and roof, indicates the desire to make the building thoroughly fireproof. The plural "mills" evidently refers to the fact that there is more than one machine located in a single building, though the usage is uncommon.
Barnett Roe, born in England in 1810, grew up in Cayuga County, New York, and came to Huron County with his parents in about 1834. Working in farming and carpentry as well as milling, he later owned a sawmill, a cheese factory, a stone quarry, and two farms. Roe died in 1877, and the Phoenix Mills constitute an impressive monument to an individual builder.
Bibliography
William W. Williams, History of the Firelands (Cleveland, 1879), 225.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.