The Old Mill Door Swings With History

If you’ve ever set foot on the porch of The Old Mill, you’ve probably noticed the timeworn wooden, Old Mill door. It’s peppered with tacks, nails and holes that appear to be the work of a very busy woodpecker.

A 200-Year Old Wooden Wonder

Those holes were actually made by other tacks and nails, now long gone. The door itself is nearly 200 years old, and has done its intended job very well.

It has let breezes in on warm summer days, and welcomed visitors from all over the world. It has kept out the cold, and a few ducks. But it has also served as far more than a door.

For many generations, it was the source of news for the entire community. The tacks and nails once held announcements of births and deaths, community picnics and church revivals, casualties of war and proclamations of peace, and all the other news the community needed to share.

The Old Mill Door Swings With History

It’s through that door that commerce and community have come together for 19 remarkable decades. And just like grandma’s screen door, it swings shut with a familiar series of sounds.

The faint screech of the hinges, the thud of wood against the threshold, and the clap of the handmade horseshoe-and-railroad spike door knocker form the notes of a magical chord. A chord that sounds like an old soul striking up a song you’ve heard a thousand times before. It’s a chord you sometimes hear in passing, without really noticing. But if you never heard it again, you couldn’t help but feel that something special was missing from this world.

The sense of security our door provides goes well beyond the strength of its sturdy wood and trusty lock. It encompasses our history and our heritage. We are secure in the knowledge that our stories are still being told by that old door, and will continue to be told for years to come. Even when, like those long lost tacks and nails, we ourselves are gone.

If that door could talk, what would it say?