First Mills in Utah County

Utah County ground its first flour in Springville. In 1851 Jacob Houtz, James Porter, and Edward Hall built the county's first flour mill near here, with Norton Jacobs forging and fitting the machinery himself. Nine years later Houtz put up a woolen mill nearby — and in 1863 did something unusual for the mountains: he installed cotton looms and wove cloth from cotton hauled up from Utah's Dixie, far to the south. The cotton experiment passed, and the mill went back to wool. It ran until fire took it in 1914.

What the plaque says

In 1851, Jacob Houtz, James Porter, and Edward Hall built and operated a flour mill near here. Norton Jacobs, the first miller, made and installed the machinery. in 1860, Jacob Houtz and William Bringhurst built a woolen mill one third mile north west. In 1863, with the aid of William Jackson Stewart, cotton looms were installed. Cotton from Dixie was used. The mill was sold to James Whitemead in 1880 who changed it to a woolen mill. The mill operated until destroyed by fire in 1914.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bridal Veil Falls — 11 mi
  A dramatic double waterfall cascading 607 feet into Provo Canyon
• Thistle Landslide — 13 mi
  The ruins of a town destroyed by a massive landslide in 1983
• Sundance Mountain Resort — 15 mi
  Robert Redford's intimate, arts-minded ski resort on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos, in the North Fork of Provo Canyon.
• Aspen Grove — 15 mi
  The mountain-base trailhead for Mount Timpanogos and Stewart Falls

More markers nearby

• Springville's First Camp Site — 0.9 mi
• The Pioneer Mother — 1.1 mi
• Springville Presbyterian Church — 1.3 mi
• Springville High School Art Gallery — 1.5 mi