Among the businesses that took advantage of the power in the flowing waters of Spring Creek was a substantial flour and feed mill operated for decades by the Hindman family.
The business began with Samuel Hindman, a millwright who came to Tuscumbia in 1871 and entered the milling business. By the late nineteenth century, the operation had passed to his sons, Joe and James Hindman.
Operating what was commonly referred to as the Hindman Mill, the brothers produced flour and meal and handled corn and wheat bran. They were particularly known for the manufacture of horse and cow feed, which became an important part of the business and was shipped well beyond Tuscumbia.
The scale of the operation was considerable. The Hindman mill had a capacity of sixty barrels per day. A standard barrel of flour represented roughly 196 pounds, meaning the mill was capable of producing the equivalent of nearly 12,000 pounds of milled product in a day; more than 200 fifty-pound sacks.
This was not simply a neighborhood gristmill serving nearby farms. It was a commercial milling operation doing a substantial shipping business.
Finding the Mill on Spring Creek
A 1921 Sanborn fire insurance map includes a detached inset labeled “Tuscumbia Water Mill Co.” The mill sat directly on Spring Creek beside a mill pond, with several associated buildings nearby. Because the property was outside the main developed portion of Tuscumbia, Sanborn mapped it separately and noted that it was located approximately three-quarters of a mile southwest of the courthouse.
The map shows just how dependent the operation was on the creek. Water was not simply nearby, it was part of the mill’s machinery. A dam created the mill pond, allowing the flow of Spring Creek to be controlled and directed to provide power.
Later topographic maps appear to preserve the same arrangement. Near a bend in Spring Creek southwest of downtown, a narrow feature crosses the creek at approximately the location where the mill dam would have stood. Several small buildings are shown immediately beside it.
