The site of Cook’s Old Mill. (Click on image for larger photo).
The light was right and I was close, so I made the trip and walked around for a few minutes taking photos. (Click on image for larger photo).
Puffy white clouds filled the sky showing patches of blue. I was close to Cook’s Old Mill in Greenville, WV. I had been there plenty of times before, but since the light was right, I decided go spend a few minutes walking around with a couple of Nikons thrown over my neck and shoulder. First, I took a few shots from the parking area side, and then walked over the Indian Creek Bridge to the mill itself.
The current mill on site dates to 1857. (Click on image for larger photo).
Laurel Creek Forge is a blacksmith shop constructed on the site in the 1980s. (Click on image for larger photo).
A couple of mill wheels sit in front of the blacksmith shop at the site of Cook’s Mill. (Click on image for larger photo).
Cook’s Old Mill was constructed here in 1796. The original mill building is gone and another having replaced it in 1857 on the same foundation. It is a 2 1/2 story, plus basement, hand-hewn post-and-beam building, with massive timbers pegged at their mortise and tenon joints. The site also includes the dam, mill pond, tail race and stream, as well as a log house which dates to 1843. The log house was moved to the property in the early 1990s from nearby War Ridge, and reconstructed.
Cook’s Mill site includes the mill, a blacksmith shop, the dam, mill pond, tail race and stream. includes the dam, mill pond, tail race and stream
This log house dating to 1843 was moved onto the property in the 1990s and reconstructed. It was moved from neighboring War Ridge, and is typical of area log homes from the period. (Click on image for larger photo).
A blacksmith building was constructed on the site in the 1980s. It’s design compliments the old mill building and surroundings. Across the road is the Miller’s old house, which dates to the later part of the the 19th century.
This log house dating to 1843 was moved onto the property in the 1990s and reconstructed. It was moved from neighboring War Ridge, and is typical of area log homes from the period. (Click on image for larger photo).
This wasn’t my first visit to the mill, and I will always stop if I’m in the area and the light is right. There’s always something to new to shoot with changing light.
Soldier Creek Primitive Baptist Church was built in 1874 on the site of a log chuch which was destroyed by a fire. (Click on image for larger photo).
Interior of the church, as seen through a window, (Click on image for larger photo).
Soldier Creek Primitive Baptist Church, Harvey, Marshall County, KY, dates to 1820 and is the oldest church in the Jackson Purchase region of western Kentucky. Through the years the old church has seen a lot of history, good and bad, including the crash of a B-29 Superfortress on July 1, 1945.
A monument erected by the Marshall County Fiscal Court, in 2008, directly across from the church, honors the men of the ill-fated flight. It reads:
Monument erected by the Marshall County Fiscal Court, in 2008, directly across from the church, honors the men of the ill-fated flight. (Click on image for larger photo).
“On July 1, 1945, A B-29 Superfortress crashed near Soldier Creek Church. Nine men aboard the B-29 lost their lives and one* survived after being thrown from the aircraft and parachuting to safety. This monument shall remain in remembrance of their sacrifice and of those who have served and continue to serve on foreign and domestic soils as ambassadors for our freedom and democracy.
1st Lieutenant Joseph F Arone Corporal Roy G Berryhill 2nd Lietenant Ward W Copenhaurer 2nd Lietenant Richard o Snow Flight Officer Eugene M Graham Sergeant Romold A Kryzan Sergeant Delmar H Lumberg Sergeant Arnold A Rushton Flight Officer James R Schetzsle Corporal Irving A Elias*”
The B-29 had just refuled in Nashville, and was on a routine flight, when it disintegrated in a severe electrical storm, during the middle of the night, some 45 minutes after takeoff. The crew was based at Kirtland Air Field in Albuquerue, NM, and they were returning to Colorado, before heading back to their home base.
The one survivor, Cpl. Irving Elias, the plane’s left waist gunner, was in the rear of the plane when he heard an explosion that ripped the plane apart. He was thrown out and floated down to the ground on a parachute, through heavy rain and lightning. He took shelter, as best he could, under a bush, and at daybreak made his way to a nearby house, where he received help, and was taken to the hospital in nearby Benton. Other than a few lacerations on his face, hands and feet, he was unhurt.
An old outhouse stands behind the old church. (Click on image for larger photo).
An old outhouse stands behind the old church. (Click on image for larger photo).
The existing church was built in 1874, after a second log church on the site burned. The first was made of round logs and had a dirt floor. It’s was followed by a more refined hewn-log structure, with a wood floor, which served the community until it was destroyed by the fire. According to local tradition, Indians watched from the nearby woods as the first church was being built.
The old church is no longer a place of full-time worship. However, I think it still used on special occasions. An old outhouse still stands behind the church.
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Shiloh Methodist Church served its community for 134 years. (Click on image for larger photo).
The Holy Bible sits on the pulpit where it was left after the last sermon in June 1999 at the Shiloh Methodist Church, Huntsville, IL. (Click on image for larger photo).
The Holy Bible sits on the pulpit where it was left after the last sermon in June 1999 at the Shiloh Methodist Church, Huntsville, IL. While I was working on a right of way project in Illinois, I passed by the church often in my travels, and if the light was right, would stop a shoot a frame, or two. One day, having a little extra time, I decided to open the door and look inside. Here, in these few images is what I saw. A church left as it was. A sign on the door said it had never been locked, and hopefully, never will be.
“It is believed this building has never been locked, and hopefully, it never will be.” (Click on image for larger photo).
“The church was built in 1868. The ground was deeded be Henery and Altin Alphin for the sum of $5.00,” a sign on the inside church door says.
“Good years and bad, it has served the community well, helping to make a neighborhood and a feeling of unity to the community. Despite snow, sleet, rain, and lots of mud for many years it was filled to near capacity people coming from far and near in wagons, buggies, sleighs, many walked, later Model T’s and finally Buicks and Oldsmobiles.
Hymn books still visible among the pews. (Click on image for larger photo).
Left from the last service in June 1999. (Click on image for larger photo).
Corn fields and clouds surround this old church on a hot August day. (Click on image for larger photo).
“Having served this NEIGHBORHOOD well for 134 years, due to many changes, it was officially closed June 1999. it is believed this building has never been locked, and hopefully, it never will be,” the message concluded.
One of the last times I drove by, the sun was setting and I could see the church had a new coat of paint. I stopped and shot a frame. (Click on image for larger photo).
I was glad to see that the community hadn’t abandoned this old structure that had served them. Frequently, I stop and take pictures of abandoned churches with doors padlocked, and a look through a window reveals that they are now used for storage, or have been pretty much gutted, or otherwise uncared for.
One of the last times I drove by Shiloh Methodist Church, the sun was setting and I could see the church had a new coat of paint. I stopped and shot a frame. The community still cares.
