Staley Mill is the historic home of Ohio’s oldest distillery. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

By Ken Drenten

The owners of Staley Mill and Indian Creek Distillery in New Carlisle, Ohio, can trace their family ancestry back to the 1400s when the Stehlis departed England for Holland to escape religious persecution.

Jakob Stehli took the next step in 1737 and, with his family, chartered the ship Charming Nancy from Rotterdam to Portsmouth to Philadelphia. Jakob settled in Frederick, Maryland. Later, other family members settled in Lancaster, Pa., among those who would become known as “Pennsylvania Dutch.”

Later on, three Staley brothers, David, Henry and Elias, moved to the Northwest Territory and built a number of grist mills, including one for a property owner in 1818 alongside Indian Creek in Bethel Township, Miami County. Elias purchased the property and built a stillhouse in 1820.

Elias and succeeding generations of Staleys operated the mill and distillery profitably until Prohibition became the law of the land in 1920. Stills and equipment were hidden away and the distillery went into hiberation.

Missy Duer, a sixth-generation Staley descendant, and her husband Joe Duer, took the bold step of revitalizing the distillery and putting the original 1820 copper pot stills back into use.

The interior of Staley Mill. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

Today, Indian Creek Distillery produces artisan whiskey in small batches — what they call “Legendary Ohio Frontier Whiskeys,” using the original equipment and family recipes and the same spring water that was originally used. The stills are the oldest operating stills in America today.

Indian Creek Distillery is also Ohio’s oldest distillery, offering their products for sale as well as tastings, tours of Staley Mill, the ruins of the original stillhouse, the original mash house, warehouse and the new stillhouse. Special events and meals and group events are also offered.

Staley Mill is located at 7095 Staley Road, New Carlisle, Ohio, phone (937) 846-1443.

Learn more about mills in Ohio at Dusty Tires.

Ken Drenten is creator and editor of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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