{"nrhp_refnum":"90001842","name":"Cockram Mill","other_names":["DHR File 70-06"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"US 58 E of jct. with VA 632","address_restricted":false,"city":"Meadows of Dan","county":"Patrick County","state":"VA","lat":36.737866841000056,"lon":-80.3797672941462,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-12-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two- and three-story frame gristmill, about 111 by 24 feet, beside a dam at the headwaters of the Dan River on U.S. Route 58 near Meadows of Dan, Patrick County, Virginia. It was built around 1885 by Jesse Blackard.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the mill is a representative example of late nineteenth-century mill design and technology under Criterion A. It was unusual locally for using two turbine wheels, for being built for large-scale production, and for introducing grain cleaning and shelling. In the 1930s it also sold electricity to about twelve households. It is described as one of the few largely intact gristmills surviving in good condition in the area.","narrative":"Cockram Mill is a water-powered gristmill on the Dan River headwaters beside U.S. Route 58 in Patrick County, Virginia. Jesse Blackard built it around 1885 as a frame building with white weatherboard siding and a tin roof. Unlike most mills in the Appalachian area, which used overshot wheels and served neighbors on request, it was designed for mass production and runs on two turbine wheels. Blackard ground corn, rye and buckwheat, operated a sawmill, planer and box factory, and supplied stores across three counties as well as tobacco companies in North Carolina. W.A. Cockram bought the mill in 1921, replaced the wooden dam with concrete in 1932, and for about a decade sold electricity to twelve households. The mill was renovated in 1964 and again after 1984. Much original equipment survives, including an 1879 buckwheat shucker and three sets of millstones. The nomination cites it as a largely intact example of late nineteenth-century mill technology.","period_of_significance":"1885-1940","architect_builder":"Blackard, Jesse","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still operating as a mill, and leased to the National Park Service to produce cornmeal, grits and buckwheat. The concrete dam washed out in July 1990 and replacement was planned; the mill ran on electric power meanwhile. The miller's house is used as a deli and craft shop and the store as an antique shop.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.693252-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/6824/41682458/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/90001842.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001842/40ca57116f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001842/40ca57116f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Eschena","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cockram_Mill_-_near_Vesta_in_Patrick_County,_VA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Eschena</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:Cockram_Mill_-_near_Vesta_in_Patrick_County,_VA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682458","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockram_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15211105"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/patrick-county/cockram-mill-90001842/"}