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3800 Lakeshore Drive, North Little Rock, Arkansas

a. 1932 Photo by Worth Norton	Old Post Card
Dedicated August 6, 1933, as Pugh's Memorial Park, the Old Mill is a replica of an abandoned water-powered grist mill that would have been used by Arkansas pioneers in the 1800s.  Although the Old Mill never actually operated as a mill, the iron grist mill on the first floor of the building is authentic and dates to 1828.  It served the Cagle family of Pope County (See 3. Facts below) for three generations. Developer Justin Matthews intended for the Old Mill to appear as the ruins of a bygone era supplanted by modern methods. "Now completely forgotten by the hurrying world around it, the Old Mill quietly weathers the years in the depths of its secluded valley," Matthews said of his vision.  A memorial to his friend and business partner, Thomas R. Pugh of Portland, Arkansas, the Old Mill with its wheel turning symbolizes Pugh's tireless energy.  Millstones on the second floor of the building came from the Ashley County plantation of Tom Knoble.  Pugh's grandfather, Frank Carmean of the Matthews Company designed the park and Bob Massey s supervised the project.  Matthews commissioned Dionicio Rodrigez, a noted Mexican sculptor, whose faux bois (or fake wood) style was perfected in the details of this remarkable work of art.  The Old Mill appeared in the opening credits of the 1939 movie, Gone With the Wind.  Click Here for Youtube Video Click Here for More History by RV Travel Tales Other Facts 1. Two milestones on the old road to the mill etched with the numbers "1" and"4" were moved here from a military road laid out in the 1830s by Lt. Jefferson Davis (later President of the Confederacy). Along this road, the Cherokee and Choctaw Indians traveled from the present town of Dardanelle into the Indian territory, now Oklahoma. 2. Three sections of a hexagonal wrought iron shaft protecting the "Broken Tree Branch" were cut from the stern wheel of a passenger steamboat which traveled the Arkansas River in the 1800s. 3. As a results of a fire in downtown Russellville in 1906, the city realized they needed a water system and a new light plant.  The old light plant was badly crippled by the fire. The site chosen was on the Illinois Bayou, west of the Russellville Country Club, on the site of the Old Cagles Mill.  In 1838 Howard Cagle had brought mill stones from North Carolina and had established his mill on the west bank of the Illinois Bayou at this site.  The mill was first run by water, but later was converted to steam. A replica of this mill, or a mill like it, was build in Pugh Memorial Park in Lakewood Addition of North Little Rock.  The millstones are now in this park for everyone to enjoy. Picture of Old Cagles Mill on Illinois Bayou
	This is the grist mill provided by the Cagle Family