The Daily Grind: Butte Creek Mill Keeps History Alive
Only whole grain flours are ground at the mill. Photo by Sean Bagshaw.
The Daily Grind: Butte Creek Mill Keeps History Alive
By Jennifer Margulis
“This road that goes past the mill was the military road from Jacksonville to Fort Klamath,” explains Bob Russell, the owner of the Butte Creek Mill in Eagle Point. He’s a tall man with a decidedly Oregon twang to his speech. He’s wearing jeans and a black vest over a button-down light denim shirt. Bespectacled with tousled gray hair and a kid-in-a-candy-store smile, Russell is standing in front of the Butte Creek Mill on a misty morning in January. “In 1872 the mill was the only thing here, there was no Eagle Point, there was no Medford,” he says, “but the cavalry went back and forth here because the Indian Wars were going on and the Indians came into the mill and traded leather goods and huckleberries, things like that, for flour.”
I’ve long seen mention of the Butte Creek Mill—a short blurb in a travel guide to Oregon, a highway sign on the way to Crater Lake—but I’ve never visited. As a freelance travel writer, I’m often sent to faraway places that take more than one plane ride to get to. But lately my editors have been asking for more local, US-focused stories. They’ve noticed that with the downturn in the economy more Americans are taking “staycations,” traveling close to home to save money on transportation, hotel, and other costs. So I’ve been eager to discover interesting travel destinations close to home, which is why photographer Sean Bagshaw and I are at the Butte Creek Mill today.
You can read the whole article on-line here.
The mill as seen from the park across the water. Photo by Sean Bagshaw
If you want to visit, the mill is located at:
402 Royal Ave. N.
Eagle Point, OR 97524
e-mail: info@buttecreekmill.com
The hours of operation are:
Mon. - Sat. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday - 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
And best of all there is no charge for admission (though your wallet will be lighter after you visit the general store).
Bob Russell with his kid-in-a-candy-store smile. Photo by Sean Bagshaw.
Tags: Bob Russell, Butte Creek Mill, Jefferson Monthly, southern Oregon