When you are searching for this cache, I hope that you also visit what is, in my opinion, the most beautiful spring in Missouri, Greer Spring. 3/4 mile (one-way) hike that you WILL be glad that you took! The trailhead is about a half a mile south on Highway 19 of GZ, good parking, vaulted toilets, and wonderful trail.
Congratulations to SpiritHowler and RedAngie for the FTF!!!!
Greer Mill, Oregon County, Missouri.... In Water Mills of the Missouri Ozarks, historian George Suggs, Jr., noted that Greer Mill differed from most other such buildings in Missouri because of its location on high ground approximately three-fourths of a mile from the spring that was its source of power. This location provided easier access for farmers bringing their grain to the mill, but necessitated a complex system of cables and pulleys to transmit power from the spring. Some remnants of the cable survive on the steep hill between the mill and the spring. The mill building remains substantially intact, and in Suggs' words, "is a majestic structure even in old age."'
http://williamsancestry.blogspot.com/…/history-of-greer-mil…
In 1987, the Anheuser-Busch company offered to buy the 7,000-acre property containing Greer Spring and Mill. Newspapers reported that the famous St. Louis brewery wanted to bottle water from the spring. Conservationists protested, and environmentalist Leo Drey of St. Louis stepped in to purchase the tract from the Dennig family, including the mill. Drey offered to hold it for eventual sale to the United States Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) at a price much less than he paid.
In 2014, HistoriCorps completed the first phase of rehabilitation work at the Greer Mill in partnership with Passport In Time and the Mark Twain National Forest. The work included reconstruction of the structural members on the west elevation, rebuilding and repointing the foundation on the west elevation, residing the west elevation to a height of 8’ above grade, stabilizing an interior bent, and minor repair of stairs and infill of window openings.... http://historicorps.org/greer-mill/
In 2015, I attended a work week with HistoriCorps and Passport in Time folks and had a wonderful time. We replaced carrying beams, posts, joist, and studs, in the basement and sill logs across the front of this beauty! We worked thru the day and then I played until dark. Wow, what a beautiful area! Greer Springs and Mill, Turner Mill and Spring, Falling Spring Mill, and the beautiful Eleven Point River! Enjoy!!!!
Permission Granted by Zone Archeaologist and Mark Twain National Forest. Thanks to all for your cooperation and time!!!