Monroe County Heritage Museums

Rikards Mill History

A Mechanical Genius

     Jacob "Jake" Rikard (1806-1880) was the builder and first operator of the grist mill. Jake came to Alabama with his father, Andrew, and their family from South Carolina in the early 1820s to establish the community of Germany in north Monroe County. These industrious settlers of German descent farmed and established churches, began businesses and families

     Jake's first wife, Polly Johnson, died, leaving him with three small girls. He remarried in 1838 to "Widow Elizabeth" Snell, who was raising eight children of her own. Having this large family demanded more income. Jake, a blacksmith and locksmith, able to "fix anything" and a mechanical genius, decided to build a water-powered grist mill. He felt the grist mill would provide a good future for his family.

     Jake operated his mill before and after the War Between the States. During the war, he lost his son Stephen.  Later, he lost his wife Elizabeth, then married his third wife, Mary Jane Cook. Together they had three children.  In 1880, this strong-willed man succumbed to typhoid fever and was buried in the Chestnut cemetery.

     In the early 1840s, Jake was designing and building his first mill, using logs for the millhouse construction. The power to drive his 48-inch millstones came from a wooden wheel lying horizontally between two timbers directly below the mill. This type of wheel is commonly known as a "tub" wheel. According to family, when the wooden turbine became clogged with debris from the creek, Jake would "strip down buck-naked and go down in the water to clean the wheel out."  By 1845 Jake had established his mill, but natural disaster struck when Flat Creek tore the mill from its wooden pilings and washed Jake's livelihood down the creek. Still today, one can see the original timber of the old, wood-bottomed dam embedded in the Selma chalk soapstone of Flat Creek.

     The year 1858 found Jake racing with the War Between the States. He and two slaves, Stokes and Edward, built the present mill. Using board and batten construction for the millhouse, he split shingles from native cypress to complete his roof.  Native yellow poplar, heart pine, chestnut and white oak were used throughout the mill. The huge 48-inch millstones (which weigh several thousand pounds) were installed and run with the tub" wheel.

     Family stories relate the mill being built in three years; other sources believe the mill may not have been completed until after the war, around 1868.

     People from miles around would gather at the mill, bringing a "turn" of corn for grinding. Many would catch up on the latest news, picnic ~ and wading in the stream was a common sight.  In 1905, Jake Rikard's grandson, John Dennis Forte, installed a new metal turbine made by the Leffel Co. in Ohio. By the 1930s, the old millstones were replaced with 36-inch stones which are in use today.

     After Jake Rikard's death, the mill passed to his daughter, Mary Rikard, and her husband, Holly Middleton Forte. They ran the mill until their son, John Dennis Forte, began operating the business.

     John taught school for many years in north Monroe County and was elected Monroe County superintendent of schools in 1900. By 1921 he retired and was a full-time millwright at Rikard's Mill until his death in 1966. By then, he had passed the miller legacy to his son, Maurice Forte, who operated the mill alongside his father.

     In 1993, Mack Albert Rikard and Maurice Forte, descendants of Jake Rikard, agreed that this legacy of their family and Monroe County must be preserved. Mack Albert Rikard took on the process of complete restoration of the mill and dam. Wayne Calloway is the present miller.

     The people of Monroe County have graciously continued to donate materials and labor to complete the Covered Bridge Gift Shop, the Blacksmith Shop, Barn, Cane Syrup Mill and Cabin.

     Maurice Forte, great-grandson of Jake Rikard, carefully sharpens the flint composite millstones that are presently in use. Forte was trained by his father, John Dennis Forte, and has been a millwright at Rikard's Mill for over 50 years.

     Tools of the millwright  The top runner stone (shown lifted and placed on the left) is turned by a turbine located under the mill house.  The bottom stone (on the right with the drive shaft in the center) does not turn.  Periodically, the top stone must be lifted the apparatus in the background to allow for sharpening of the stones, accomplished using the and the of the millwright.

      The covered bridge giftshop offers a variety of arts and crafts by local craftspeople, souvenirs, artwork and books. The covered bridge giftshop was built in 1994 with donated materials from many people and businesses in Monroe County.

      The blacksmith shop is an authentic 1880s reproduction. The blacksmith equipment was used by Peter L. Shamburger in the 19th century and donated by the Shamburger family of Pine Hill, Alabama.

      The barn is a typical Monroe County barn and contains farm equipment from the 19th and 20th century. The wagon was donated by the Mason family of Uriah, Alabama, who purchased it from the Blacksher Trading Company, an early business in Monroe County.

      The mule-driven cane syrup mill was made in Selma in the 1800s by the Peacock Company. Found on his property, Ernest Dyess of Camden, Alabama, restored and donated the mill to the Museums in 1997. Each year on the second Saturday of November, the Monroe County Heritage Museums celebrates cane syrup making days. Volunteers gather to cut sugar cane, feed the mill, cook and strain the syrup, and jar it. It's great fun for the family to watch as an old tradition comes alive.

      Construction began on the cabin in 1999 with lumber and materials donated by Monroe Countians. This cabin was the dream of Maurice Forte. It is a classroom for children and adult workshops held at the mill, and the Folk Fest musicians are staged each year on the front porch.

Directions:  Rikard’s Mill is located 22 miles north of Monroeville, just north of Beatrice off Highway 265.  Driving north on I-65, the mill is approximately 35 miles west off the Greenville/Pine Apple exit.

Rikard’s Mill

Hours of Operation

Thursday – Sunday, 11 a.m. to sundown

Open April through mid-December

No Admission

Donations Accepted

For more information, contact

Rikard’s Mill

(251) 789-2781

or

Monroe County Heritage Museums

(251) 575-7433

Rikard’s Mill is a Monroe County Property

Listed on the Alabama Register of Historical Sites

And operated by the

Monroe County Heritage Museums

Monroeville, AL  36461