{"nrhp_refnum":"79000846","name":"Gray-Watkins Mill","other_names":["Gray's Mill","Anfensin's Mill"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"211 N. River St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Montgomery","county":"Kane County","state":"IL","lat":41.72847341800008,"lon":-88.43637314399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-12-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story limestone flour mill at 211 N. River Street in Montgomery, Kane County, Illinois, built 1851-1853 beside the Fox River by Daniel Gray and Vine Watkins, with stonemason John Hemm.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the mill is unique in the area and is the last well-preserved survivor of four mills once standing along a 30-mile stretch of the Fox River. It also played a role in the early settlement of the Fox River Valley and in local commerce and industry. It was the site of pioneering mica milling in the early 1900s.","narrative":"Gray's Mill is a limestone flour mill on the Fox River in Montgomery, Illinois, begun in 1851 and finished in 1853. It rises four stories plus a loft, with fifteen 12-by-12-inch columns per floor and walls that taper from 40 inches thick at the base to about 24 inches at the top. Daniel Gray, an early settler for whom the town was first named Graystown, built it with his son-in-law Vine Watkins and a German-born stonemason, John Hemm. The mill produced White Rose flour until about 1900. Shortly afterward, miller Cyrus Furnas pioneered the milling of mica there, supplying powder for early tire and radio tube uses until operations moved to Forest Park in 1922. Later it served as an electric motor facility and then stood empty before restoration began in 1976. It was judged significant because it survives as the best-preserved of four Fox River mills described in a 1963 book, two of which have since been destroyed and one of which was heavily altered.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Daniel Gray/Vine Watkins; Stonemason - John Hemm","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored and renovated from 1976 onward; occupied, in commercial use, with a small restaurant on the property. The condition is described as excellent and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.924871-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/8931/28893104/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/79000846.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000846/ab04a4bd44-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000846/ab04a4bd44-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"lester1950","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray%E2%80%93Watkins_Mill_2012-09-06_09-47-47.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">lester1950</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray%E2%80%93Watkins_Mill_2012-09-06_09-47-47.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893104","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray%E2%80%93Watkins_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5598453"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kane-county/gray-watkins-mill-79000846/"}