this last weekend we went for a drive up north and found ourselves in rome, georgia.  the leaves have started to really show their fall colors making the trip there and back a colorful affair.  preparing for our trip north i looked up rome to see what was happening and after a bit of searching i came across the old water mill on the grounds of berry college.  we woke up to a wet and rainy day so we decided to head straight away to the college to find the mill.   the land was vast and full of trees, deer and geese  swam and walked amongst the students and faculty, and the rain added a texture to the beautiful old buildings that housed the school’s classrooms and dorms.  it took a while to find the old water mill as there really were not many signs to help us along the way, but eventually we took a right turn down a dirt road and saw the historic mill.  the mill was built in 1930 with the help of the students, faculty, and community around rome.  the large iron hub was donated by the republic mining and manufacturing company and henry ford had the hub moved to it’s current spot.  the wooden overshot wheel was built by student workers, then rebuilt in 1977 by students, staff, alumni and friends.  water is piped from the nearby reservoir to the wheel where it travels up the stone column and over the wheel, gravity then turns the large 42 foot wooden machine.  the mill was used by the college to grind corn, grown on the schools grounds, into grits and meal.  the college still operates the mill today for special occassions and you can occassionally find cornmeal ground at the mill in berry’s gift shop.