About the
old watermill: This watermill is on the site of the S. C. Lowry
Lumber Company's lumber yard that operated from the 1800s until
the 1950s. After that, the site was home to a cotton gin, a
grist mill, and a fresh-water catfish farm. The waterwheel used
to turn a pulley system with long leather belts that powered
equipment in the mill.
The current owner has found documents from the early days of the
sawmill that list the top pay rate at the time as being 15 cents
per hour. The work day started when the whistle blew at 5:00 am,
but everyone showed up earlier than that to prepare for the work
day on their own time. The sawyers would come to work early enough
to sharpen their saws and everyone would be in position at 5:00
when the whistle blew so they could begin working immediately. At
quitting time, the workers would continue working right up until
the whistle blew, then clean up their work area and put up their
tools before leaving for the day.
The log cabin across the road was built around 1925 and was the
homestead for the family. When constructing the house, Mr. Lowry
first built a pen and put his mules in it for a while to pack the
dirt firmly, then took down the pen and built the house on the
packed dirt.
If you can, save this cache for near the end of the day so you can
dine at the nearby Old Watermill Fish Camp Restaurant which is open
from 5:00 pm - 9:30 pm Tuesday through Saturday. They serve
excellent catfish, shrimp, oysters, burgers, and a variety of other
delicious meals. Talk to Scott, the owner. He will be happy to tell
you more of the history of the site. Let him know that you
appreciate him agreeing to allow a geocache on his land.
Original cache contents:
Flashlight, Silly Putty, motorcycle, Sharkboy toy, tape measure,
dinosaur, 2 snakes, lizard, large superball, Susan B. Anthony
dollar coin, gold dollar coin, 50 cent piece, playing cards, grip
exerciser, pedometer.
Have fun and enjoy the history!
Model Citizen -
Zero Discipline
