Log Cabin Grist Mill- Historical Monument

Milling ran in Arza Adams's blood — he learned the trade from his father, Captain Joshua Adams, in Ontario, Canada, before converting and coming west. In the winter of 1850–51 he moved his wife Sabina and seven children here, raised a log cabin, and built beside it the gristmill whose stones turned wheat into the settlement's bread. He would build and run three mills here across his lifetime. The log cabin and water wheel standing before you are a replica of that first mill — no photograph of the original survives.

What the plaque says

During the winter of 1850-51, Arza and Sabina Adams moved their family of seven children here from Mill Creek, Salt Lake Valley. They built a log cabin across the street east of where you stand. Journals tell that Arza built a grist mill near his log cabin. Arza learned how to build and operate flour mills from his father, Capt. Joshua Adams, in Ontario, Canada. The Adams Flour Mill was the first to produce baking flour for American Fork families. In 1833 Arza moved the water wheel, mill stones and other workings 4½ blocks north of here and built a larger mill near the Lake City Fort. During his lifetime, Arza also built and operated a third flour mill one mile north of town. No photographs exist of the original 1851 mill. The log cabin and water wheel in front of you is a replication of that grist mill. Arza Adams built this log cabin at 243 North 100 East, American Fork in 1880. It became the home of his daughter, Bets Adams Robinson. The cabin was taken down log by log in 2012 and reassembled on this site in 2014. The water wheel is a replica of a wheel built in the mid 1800s. This park property originally belonged to Stephen Chipman who was Arza’s maternal uncle. This Log Cabin Grist Mill stands as a Historical Monument of American Fork City and a tribute to Arza Adams, pioneer miller and one of the co-founders of this city.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lehi Roller Mills — 3.0 mi
  The flour mill from the movie Footloose
• Thanksgiving Point — 6.3 mi
  A massive complex with dinosaur bones, gardens, and a curiosity museum
• Timpanogos Cave National Monument — 6.8 mi
  Three spectacularly decorated caves connected by hand-carved tunnels
• Alpine Loop Summit — 9.8 mi
  The 8,000-foot high point of the Alpine Loop, face to face with Mount Timpanogos

More markers nearby

• Fort Wall of American Fork — 0.4 mi
• First Free Public School (2) Markers — 0.4 mi
• Veterans Memorial Building — 0.5 mi
• American Fork Presbyterian Church — 0.6 mi