Art at the Mill, 2026

Millwood, VA

The art display and sale at the Burwell-Morgan Mill is a fundraiser for the Clarke County Historical Association. Artwork is exhibited on walls, specials partitions, tables, and easels. 

Mosaic Monday

I took pictures of some favorites, including work by Terri Roy, Linda Lopez, Trisha Adams, Marie Botsford, and Robert De May.

It was pouring rain, so I did not take a picture of the outside of the mill this time.

Spaces and Places of Harrisonburg

Mural by Addison Green

This mural is at the entrance of the Walmart that’s west of Harrisonburg. Walmart has a community mural program.

It depicts well-known sites in Harrisonburg and Dayton. I have photos of the mill in Dayton, the museum there, and the Rockingham County courthouse in Harrisonburg.

Mosaic Monday / Murals

#walmartmurals @nowart_la

Millstone, Garden Center

Woodstock Gardens

Millstones like this were used in pairs to grind grain. Now they are often reused as landscaping elements. They can make a dramatic fountain with water propelled up through the center hole. 

Recently, I took Charlie to the garden center to walk around. He enjoyed exploring and sniffing while I looked at trees and decorative items.

Through the Stairs

Art at the Mill

Millrace

Clarke County, VA

I was attracted to the reflections in the millrace at Burwell-Morgan Mill. I’ve posted numerous pictures of this mill in the past, partly because an art show draws me here twice a year. 

By the time this grist mill was constructed in the 18th century, the technology for water-powered mills had been refined over hundreds of years. The stream that powered the mill wheel was channeled into a millrace that narrowed the flow of water to increase its power. 

This mill has an interior water wheel. On certain Saturdays, they still grind corn here.

Spillway

More Changes in Mt. Jackson

Yesterday Charlie told you about going to the new dog park in Mount Jackson. There’s a LOVE sign there, which is actually how I learned about the park, when an artist posted that she painted the letters on the sign at the dog park.

Mosaics  / Murals

There are pictures of cute dogs on the letters.

Also, the old mill in Mount Jackson has finally been renovated. A mural now decorates the side that faces Mill Creek.

We returned to the dog park today so that we could share it with Sadie.

Belgravia Road.

Along the North River in Mount Crawford

Near Harrisonburg

The remains of an old flour mill still stand beside the river. The mill burned in 1962. It had been five stories high and had three water wheels and dated to the 1870s.

The  miller’s house has been restored and is used as a vacation rental.

 

The North River

A Wooden Mill and a Log Home

The town of Mount Jackson began as a settlement where the Great Wagon Road crossed Mill Creek. The original gristmill existed before 1746, and the current building replaced it in 1872. Until recently, this mill had fallen into disrepair, but it has been fixed up and painted.

The road eventually became the Valley Pike and is now US 11. In Mount Jackson, it is known as Main Street.

Across the road from Mount Jackson Mill is a log home built in 1751. Additions have been built on to the back, but the front of the home still displays the original logs.

I took these pictures on a rainy day and the house is reflected on the street. The picture looks lopsided because the street runs downhill to Mill Creek, but the foundation was built up so the house would be level. You can see where the roof to the front porch was, but the porch was removed when the road was widened in the 1930s.

Local lore says that George Washington visited this house. A better documented story tells us that it was used as a Civil War hospital, which was true of many buildings in the Shenandoah Valley since multiple battles were fought in the region.

Window Pane Paintings

Inside the Silver Lake Mill
(see Yesterday's Post)

Wordless

The Quilt Museum at Silver Lake

The Virginia Quilt Museum has moved to the Dayton Mill, which is west of Harrisonburg, Virginia. I visited it several times when it was in Harrisonburg, so I was curious to see it in the historic mill.

Shadow Shot / Sunday Best / Mosaic

They only have use of two levels of the mill so they have less floor space than they did in Harrisonburg, but parking is easy, and the location is lovely.

For those who are wondering, there is an elevator so you can avoid climbing the stairs.

In addition to their historical collection, they have a revolving exhibit, often featuring contemporary work. If you are not familiar with art quilts, you might be surprised and how creative they are. I was there in November.

Silver Lake is an attraction in itself, a scenic lake in Mennonite farm country. 

Rainy Day Art Show

Millwood, VA

On one of this week’s rainy days, I went to “Art at the Mill.” Here we see raindrops in the mill race above the dam. The next scene is taken from a window in the mill.

This art sale benefits the Clarke County Historical Association. It lasts for two weeks and there’s always a selection of wonderful artwork.

I resisted the temptation to buy anything this time because my home is small and the walls are already covered with pictures.

Where McCormick Invented the Reaper

Raphine, VA

I visited Lynn two weeks ago and we drove to Raphine to eat lunch at the truck stop, which has greatly modernized and expanded since the last time I was there. It has a food court and a small department store, among other things. I stopped briefly at nearby McCormicks Farm. I’ve been there before, and posted photos back in 2011.

It was here that Cyrus McCormick first built his successful version of the reaper. Actually, his father had been working on it for 28 years before Cyrus took over and built a marketable version, with the assistance of Jo Anderson, an enslaved man. 

Sunday Best

In 1847, Cyrus and his brother moved to Chicago to establish a factory. He had realized that farmers in midwestern and western states were highly interested in his reaper because they had vast spreads of flat land, which is better suited for growing wheat than the rocky hills of Virginia.