Pride of the Valley

In the early 1820s, Jediah Hill built a sawmill on property in the emerging frontier village of Mount Pleasant in southwestern Ohio. For the next 130 years, this Mount Healthy Mill evolved and performed as an important fixture within the community and adjoining region. Much of the mill's history, however, had been lost over the years. Recognizing this loss, Jediah Hill's great-great-great-great-granddaughter, Tracy Lawson, undertook a search for more detail on its history and that of the families that had owned and operated it. Assisted by historic millwright Steve Hagaman, the two authors' research revealed a rich and sometimes surprising insight into the people and businesses that made up the history and the legacy of the Mount Healthy Mill.