Little River Dam and Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Little River Dam and Park (Jaycee Park) is a small municipal park and dam along the Little River in the town of Zebulon, North Carolina.
The original date of construction for Foster's Grist and Sawmill on the site of the dam is unknown but the mill was sold, along with 53 acres, by A. J. Foster in August 1868 for $2500 to a William C. Moore.[1][2] The mill then became known as Moore's Mill.
The mill was run by Mr. Moore and his wife through the late 1800s during which time the mill was used for various purposes including hosting visitors overnight and providing meals. On one such visit a newlywed couple, Oscar Larkin and Ellie Beckwith Stringfield, came to stay at the Moore's Mill in 1882.
“We got to Raleigh about 9:00 and were met by a man from Mr. W.C. Moore’s who had brought a nice horse and buggy for us to drive to Mr. Moore’s where we were invited to take our wedding dinner. We arrived at 1:00 before Mrs. Moore was ready for us, but Mr. Moore met us and made us welcome. This was 4 miles from Wakefield (two miles north of Zebulon) where we were to live. We spent the night and next day went to Wakefield to meet Mrs. Kemp with whom we were to board[.]”[2][3]
Moore's Mill also served as the location for the local post office by 1874. Postmaster Nancy N. Liles ran the post office where local farmers and merchants would receive mail for the pony express until it was moved in 1888.[2][4] Records still indicate local farmers receiving mail at the mill as late as 1896.[5] Mr. Moore died in 1913 and the mill was sold.[2][6]
In the mid-1910s the mill began to also provide power to the community. It operated a generator off a 12-cylinder Cadillac engine which provided power on Fridays and Saturdays. Zebulon later had 36 street lights which were all powered by the mill and an adjacent electric power plant. The power plant was washed away shortly after this in the 1919 flood.[2][7]
Ownership of the mill and its land was transferred to the town of Zebulon in 1923. The mill was later sold to Dave Privette who owned the mill until its presumed burning in the 1950s.[2] The town of Zebulon built a water filtration plant in 1963 and it stands near the park today. The town development plan also notes that, “Industries, too, have shared in this spreading out of cities. Modern assembly-line processes require single-story construction, and the two and three story mill of yesteryear often stands vacant today.”[8]