Down by the old mill

Willard Richards, an early LDS apostle, was sent to the Farmington area by early LDS President Brigham Young. He was assigned to care for and settle the land near the North Cottonwood Creek. Richards decided to build a small mill in the Farmington area in 1852, but after he passed away in 1854, his nephew, Franklin D. Richards, decided to build another larger mill.

The Rock Grist Mill was dedicated on June 19,1862, by Franklin D. Richards, also an early LDS apostle.

"My ancestors helped build the mill," said Elder H. Bryan Richards, great-great-grandson of Franklin D. Richards, a member of the Second Quorum of Seventy. "They lived here for a time. They were pioneers in their own community."

Richards dedicated the plaque during the DUP ceremony held 143 years after his great-great-grandfather dedicated the mill.

"I'm honored to be here today," Richards said. "It's a special event to me personally."

From the 1860s-90s the mill worked grinding wheat, corn and grain with a water pump.

Zelda Tidwell, said her great-great-grandfather James Cowley came from the Isle of Man to work at the mill.

"He was brought here by Willard Richards to teach the Saints how to make oatmeal," Tidwell said. "For many, many years it fed many people in town."

Flour from the mill was sold to local residents and grist was fed to chickens, pigs, cows and horses.

"It was a very important part of the economy; it was an important part of the food chain," Owens said. "That's what they lived on. That's what they ate."

In the 1890s, steam-powered mills made their way to Utah, and the Rock Grist Mill closed down. In 1906 it was converted into one of Farmington and Davis County's first electric generating stations. Some of the power generated from the mill was used for the Bamberger Railroad — an electric train that ran from Salt Lake City to Ogden.

The mill remained vacant from the 1920s to 1950s except for occasional families of the owners who would live off and on in the lower floor.

From 1960-90 a German-style restaurant, the Heidelberg, found a home in the mill.

"The Heidelberg restaurant was the most popular eating spot on the Wasatch Front," said Mary Johnson, International DUP president. "We heard about it a long time before we could afford to eat there."

Bob and Marlene Hasenyager of Farmington remember a date they spent at the restaurant early on in their marriage.

"It was really good food," Marlene said. "We ate on the second floor. You had to walk around the grinding stone to get upstairs."

Owens said people flocked to the Heidelberg for proms, weddings and LDS missionary farewells.

After the Heidelberg closed in 1990, the site remained vacant until Owens purchased it at a state auction in 1992.

Owens said that he thinks the LDS Church will end up owning the site and turning it into a museum.

"It is such an important historic artifact," Owens said. "It's like a museum piece; it's like the ultimate antique."

Leonard said the mill site is a treasure for Farmington and the state of Utah. Pictures of the mill can be seen at rockmill.com.

"It's nice to have people who are so interested in preserving history," Johnson said. "We're so thankful for Tom."

---

E-mail: nclemens@desnews.com