Help replace iconic waterwheel at Yates Mill, last of its kind in Wake County
Yates Mill qualifies as one of Wake County’s most scenic spots, a relic of the 18th century powered by a 12-foot waterwheel — backdrop to a thousand snapshots.
At roughly 250 years old, it represents the last of its kind in North Carolina: a working machine built to grind wheat and corn with just running water and gravity.
And for generations, it provided more than the raw materials for biscuits. Yates Mill was such a destination that Raleigh families would swim under its waterfall, fish in its millpond and sneak a kiss or a sip of whiskey around the yard.
“It’s older than our Capitol building,” said Nick Fountain, part of the nonprofit Yates Mill Associates. “It’s older than Raleigh. But it really does underscore our heritage and where we are. Everybody reading this had forebears who would have taken to corn to be ground.”
But despite the mill’s longevity, its central waterwheel feature has worn down far past its shelf-life, requiring a $400,000 replacement.
Yates Mill is ‘the queen’
The nonprofit Yates Mill Associates still needs about $100,000 of that total and hopes the history-minded of Wake County will donate to keep it turning.
At one time, Wake County boasted 70 mills up and down Crabtree Creek, none of which still exist. To the preservationists statewide, it qualifies as “the queen.”
The real deal
“Those pictures of the mill,” Fountain said, they’re everywhere. You go to the airport, there’s a picture. You go to the universities, there’s a picture. You go to restaurants, there’s a picture.”
The worn-down waterwheel dates to 1994, part of an effort to restore the centuries-old mill and start a county park on the land.
It went into use when the park opened around 2001, and has lasted more than twice as long as expected. But now the bolts are coming loose from the wood.
“It starts to wobble,” Fountain said. “It’s past time to replace it. We nursed it along.”
Only a handful of contractors nationwide can do this sort of work, which will require measuring virgin oak to the exact specifications. The craftsman behind the new Yates Mill wheel comes from Kentucky and will assemble and mount the oak wheel on-site, also building a new forebay where water runs from the lake to the wheel.
“There aren’t many that are the real deal,” said Fountain.
The lake has to be blocked off with a temporary cofferdam to protect a freshwater mussel project but also allow space to work. If all goes to plan, the new wheel gets mounted and finished by October and corn grinding demonstrations can start again. Just like it’s 1770.
How to contribute to Yates Mill waterwheel project
To contribute to the Yates Mill waterwheel replacement project, visit yatesmill.org/replace-the-wheel/
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.