Clover Hill Mill

The Clover Hill Mill is a gristmill located in the U.S. city of Maryville, Tennessee. Out of the hundreds of early-20th century mills once scattered across the mountains of East Tennessee, the Clover Hill Mill is one of the few still in operation, and the last such full service mill in Blount County. The mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.The community of Clover Hill was established in the 1820s along the headwaters of Baker Creek, and by 1849 a gristmill had been established around which the community developed. By the 1860s, Clover Hill had its own post office, school, church, distillery, and general store. The completion of a railroad line a few miles to the north in 1906, however, caused the community to shift to what is now called the Binfield community. The gristmill burned in 1921 and was replaced by the present mill that same year.LocationThe Clover Hill Mill is located at the intersection of Clover Hill Mill Road and Clover Hill Road, about halfway between the latter's junction with U.S. Route 411 to the south and Morganton Road to the north. The stream that once provided power to the mill is a headwater stream of Baker Creek, which empties into Tellico Lake near Greenback.HistoryEarly Blount County settler Abijah Conger arrived at what is now Clover Hill in 1823, and established a tavern and general store that catered to traffic travelling between Maryville and Morganton along the recently built Morganton Road. Conger also planted a large clover farm, and thus when he established a post office in his store, Conger chose the name "Clover Hill." In 1841, another settler named John S. Craig organized what would eventually become the Clover Hill Presbyterian Church. After the Civil War, a physician named Samuel Gault set up a practice at Clover Hill, and served as the community's post master.