John Wesley Hall Grist Mill and Cotton Gin

The John Wesley Hall Grist Mill and Cotton Gin operated at this site from 1867 to 1931. It was the successor to one of Alabama's earliest grist mills located a mile west on Mill Creek.

The original mill was burned by Union Troops during the War Between the States. This was done in accordance with Abraham Lincoln's unconscionable policy of waging total warfare against civilians, both black and white, slave and free. Food supplies and sources were particular targets of the invading Yankees. Not only was this mill burned, but also the homes, businesses and and even slave cabins in the area - leaving the survivors to fend for themselves, or as Lincoln crudely put it, "Root, hog or die." Being left with little but the clothes on their backs - and not always even that - countless innocent Southern civilians died.

During the bitter and difficult years following the War for Southern Independence, Hall moved to this location to begin a new life.

The mill was rebuilt in 1976-1777, to be preserved as a part of the Tannehill Historical State Park in Alabama. Halls Mill is an accurate copy of the old structure which did business here for 64 years.