The Stamp Floor
Leaving the engine house, we take another short climb up to the Mohawk Mill’s final floor. Here is where the mill’s four stamps would of been located, along with the massive rock bins that would of sat behind him. Today this floor reveals almost no sign of either, consisting entirely of a featureless concrete floor and very little else. The lack of details required us to take a much closer look, after which we were to gain at least a little understanding of what once was here.
The Engine House
Sitting at the south end of the third level was this concrete building - a place we had found before during our last visit to the Mohawk Mill. But back then we were under the erroneous assumption that the building housed the mill’s pump. But this isn’t true, the mills pump house was in fact down by the mouth of the Tobacco River (which you can check out HERE). This building had to of housed another type of engine, and after checking out the Sandborn maps we knew what it was. This was the mill’s steam engine, which would of powered both the stamp eccentrics and the rest of the machines as well.
The Upper Floors
Old Sanborn maps indicate the Mohawk Mill consisted of four levels, which would of adhered to the somewhat standard order of stamp level, roughing level, refining level, and wash floor. Those maps also indicated a height difference of 5 feet between the first two floors and a 15 foot difference between the 3rd and 4th. While this was rather clear, the remains of those floors on site were a little less so.
The Wash Floor
At the Mohawk Mill there isn’t much left of its wash floor. What greeted us was a vast landscape of broken concrete and twisted metal. This was the largest floor in the mill, measuring 178 feet in width and about 50 feet in depth. For each stamp - and the Mohawk Mill had 4 - there would be a workforce of about a half dozen slime tables at work on the slimes.
Weekend Bonus: CCE in the Fall
The best time of the year - by far - to explore the remains of a Copper Country Empire is the fall. Not only is the fall the best time of year to be in the woods, the vibrant colors add an extra dimension to every photo you shoot. As fall here in the Copper Country reaches it climax I thought I’d share this color bounty with my readers unable to experience it for themselves. No better place to witness the splendor than atop the bounty of poor-rock piles scattered across the region. So without further ado I present some of CCE’s greatest ode’s to fall (starting with a newbie):