Restoration Road (2021–…): Season 1, Episode 9 - Ohio Grist Mill - full transcript

Nestled in a lush valley

along the north bank
of the Licking River

about 40 miles east
of Columbus,

sits the tiny village
of Utica, Ohio.

A farming community at heart,

Utica was also once
the window glass capital

of the world,

manufacturing
more hand-blown window glass

in the early part
of the 20th century

than anywhere else
on the planet.

I'm headed there today
to meet Doug Morgan



from Mount Vernon
Barn Company

to check out
a really unique structure,

a 70-year-old grist mill

that's been abandoned
for decades.

I'm Clint Harp,
and I'm traveling America

to shed a light on some
incredible restorations

and transformations.

Get hands-on
with some of the builders

bringing these amazing
places back to life.

And make sure
these new stories

live on for years to come.

Whoa, look at this beauty.

This is Restoration Road.

Hey, Clint.



What's up, Doug?

Welcome to Utica, Ohio.

I didn't even know
there was a Utica, Ohio.

I thought Utica
was in New York.

Well, there's one there too.

Check this out.

This is the old
Campbell Mill.

Okay.

This was built around 1950.

I just fell in love with this
when I saw it.

Look at the graphics
up there.

Are those beautiful?

That's incredible.

The original mill
was built in 1815.

And it was on the backside.

It was a grist
and flour mill

powered by waterwheel.

It's a piece of history.

It's a part
of the agricultural
supply chain,

that, sort of like the barns
that we dismantle,

become obsolete.

When this mill was operating,

you could have pickup trucks
or grain trucks

drive onto this scale.

- Yep.
- Take this crane,

hook it up to the bumper.

They'd pull the front end
of the truck up.

They just--

And it would drop
the grain out into the...

No way!

Into the grain bins
right here.

That's hilarious.

- Oh, wow, that's deep.
- So, it's going down there.

It's going down there
and then there's a big auger

that takes
all the way up to the top.

Just a way cool piece
of Americana.

Yeah.

Most people
would just see all the dirt

and the leftover grain
and the empty beer cans.

But to me,
it's a work of art.

So, this is
just a cleanup job.

We're not moving it.

We're not dismantling it.

We bought
the entire property.

We're trying to figure
out a way to repurpose this

to give it a life
in the 21st century.

I'm thinking
special event venue,

you know, weddings,
corporate events.

We've got
an adjoining building

that would accommodate,
let's say sit-down dinner

for 250 people.

- Sure.
- -Turning the top two floors

into an Air B&B.

Top to top two floors.

- Top to top two floors.
- How many floors are there?

- It's hard to describe.
I've got to show it to you.
- Okay.

Oh, yeah.

Shut down
and abandoned decades ago,

there are traces
everywhere of the business

and lives that once thrived
in this space.

This is great gametime, Doug.

This is a nice space.
Fourteen-foot ceiling.

There's so much
amazing wood in here.

You're like a kid
in the candy store.

I am! Look at those.

- Is that sweet?
- -Look at those wide planks up there.

You can get the
full height
of the mill here.

They would have mixed a lot
of feed for livestock here:

oats, corn,
maybe barley, molasses.

That's the kind of stuff
you eat for breakfast.

Remember the scale
where the trucks

were weighed out there?

This is the scale.

This is kind
of something that looks like

it's not moving without
a lot of effort.

So, do you
just leave this here?

I think this can be part
of the back bar,

maybe we'll figure out
some way to weigh a drink
or something.

Oh, yeah.

Grain dust
is highly explosive.

All kind of warning signs,

every lighting fixture,
every light switch.

They're all explosion-proof.

- Okay.
- -But that's kind of a retro look

and I'm gonna rewire
them and try to keep them.

I think that's a
really cool look.

Now, let me ask you
this question.

What are you
planning to do with it?

The vision that I've got
for this floor of the mill,

this would be part
of the event space.

I can imagine this
is kind of a bar area,

you know, to mill around.

That's great.

You know what these are?

- Are these are like a mould or something?
- -Yeah,

it's like
an old foundry mold.
There are hundreds of them.

I don't know what
they're doing here
'cause this wasn't a foundry.

Every one of these is unique.

They used them
to make a sand casting.

- Sure.
- That they could then do cast iron in it.

Some of them are
little works of art

and I thought because
we're gonna try to preserve

the agricultural industrial
flavor of this space.

We might select some of these

and incorporate them
on the wall.

You bought all this,
so you own it.

This is...
This is perfect for you!

- For better or worse.
- Yeah.

- We own it.
- You love old stuff, man.

I do love it.
Look at this.

All right,
take me upstairs.

Sounds really kinky
and I don't mean that.

"Take me upstairs."

Here's the second floor.

I love it.

There is some
of the old machinery.

That's an old cereal cutter.

Look at that contraption.

And this is crazy.

These are the doors.

Oh, yeah.

That's a heck
of a drop, isn't it?
Oh, my gosh.

Look at that view, though!

That is just gorgeous.
Look at that.

There's holes everywhere.

And I really don't wanna
fall 14 feet today.

Okay, wow. Got it. All right.
There's one more floor, right?

- Yeah.
- Let's do it.

Let's go up
to the very, very top.

- Watch your head.
- Yeah.

And watch out 'cause the floor
is bad up here, too.

- Okay.
- Stay on the joist.

- This is amazing.
- Isn't this neat.

Yeah.

So, you're up
in the very top of the mill.

A bedroom up here
would be cool because the view

from those windows
will be 20 feet higher

than the one we just saw down
through the open doors.

A ton of potential.

I love it so much.

It deserves to be preserved.

It's part
of our national heritage

it's part of our fabric.

From the abandoned machinery

and the 15-foot-high
basement,

all the way up
to the elevated windows

and the clerestory.

This whole mill
is just an amazing survivor

of another time.

This was where
the original 1815 mill sat,

I've got a photograph.

You can see the remnants
of the old mill
race down there.

We're gonna build
a replica waterwheel.

We're gonna install it
where folks can see it.

The kids can see it.

You got potential.

It's got some potential.

Now, show me
this building over here.

So, this is a cool building.

It was an original
storage building.

Built probably
in the early 1900s.

This is a very fine timber
frame undercarriage.

This was part
of the original mill,

and you see the braces.

It's mortise and tenon.
It's all pegged.

It's a sod frame.
So, that dates it

- to late 1800s, early 1900s.
- Okay.

Let me ask you this.

So, over here,
I'm seeing a joint

that I have not seen before.

That is a classic
scarf joint.

I've done
a scarf joint before

and this one
is not as complicated.

It doesn't have the wedges.

- It doesn't have the key
on it.
- Yes.

But it serves
the same purpose.

This is a 32-foot span.

By the time
they built this structure,

it would have been
very difficult to find

a 32-foot-long beam.

You can see there's space
that's developed there?

- Uh-huh.
- -That's because the barn has settled.

Okay. All right,
let's go upstairs.

Show me the inside
of this building.

- I'm excited.
- Okay.

This is cool.

Yes, it's really--
I am immediately drawn

to the ceiling
and those old boards.

It's got more
of an industrial look.

It's got
these cool trusses.

It's got the old porcelain
barn lights.

Some really
nice sheeting board.

Some of them
are like 18 inches wide.

Got to get it cleaned up,

but I think this could be a
really cool space.

This is cool.

"Grist mill
was beginning of commerce
in village."

That is really cool.
Tell me what's going on here.

- Do these still work?
- Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Check out
the counterweight up there.

Cinder blocks.

So, this would have been
their storehouse

that was super secure
to keep it away
from the roads.

And I thought
in two of these bays...

- Yeah.
- ...we put the bar area.

Now, by my count,
you've got seven bars

in this entire...

You can never have
too many bars.

Now, my wife
would not agree with that.

But so, we got five--

Yeah.

Now in the meantime,
there's a lot of work

that has to get going.

We're standing around
talking about it, so.

Let's go.

There you go.

Walking down the aisle.

- Whatever.
- Whatever.