Indian Mill near Upper Sandusky houses an educational milling museum. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

By Ken Drenten

Indian Mill is at the site of a flour mill and sawmill built in 1820 to reward the Wyandotte tribes who remained loyal to the United States against the British in the War of 1812.

Members of the Wyandotte tribe, along with African Americans who intermingled with them, settled and farmed in the Upper Sandusky area near the Sandusky River.

The Wyandottes utilized the mill sustainably until political pressure overtook their livelihood. Throughout the 1830s, small groups of Wyandottes were removed while tribal leaders conducted negotiations with the federal government.

With the signing of a treaty in 1843, the last of the Wyandottes — the last Native American group to leave Ohio — were forcibly removed to Kansas. They lived in Kansas until they were moved again in 1855 to Oklahoma and forced to merge with other remnant tribes.

The original mill was dismantled and utilized to rebuild the mill at the current site in 1861, about 300 feet downstream from the original site. In 1862, three Leffel turbines were installed, and by 1885 the sawmill was gone.

From the 1880s to the 1940s, under ownership of John Finkle and his sons, the mill’s Indian Mill Buckwheat and New Corn Meal brands were noted for their quality. After John’s son Foster died in 1941, Ward Walton bought the property and donated it to the state of Ohio. The mill was dedicated by the Ohio Historical Society as a milling museum in 1968.

Indian Mill is operated by the Wyandot County Historical Society in cooperation with Ohio History Connection.

The mill is located in a scenic location along the Sandusky River at Indian Mill Park, 7417 County Road 47, Upper Sandusky. From US 23, take SR 67 north 1 mile, turn right (east) on CR 47, 1/2 mile to CR 121, and the park is immediately on the right.

The park is open all year to the public; the mill museum is open from early May to late October and closed during winter months; call (419) 294-4022 for information.

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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