Daily Grind
Since 1852, the Graue Mill and Museum in Oakbrook, Illinois, has been grinding cornmeal, its waterwheel turning at the edge of the picturesque Salt Creek. Today, the Graue Mill Museum is dedicated to bridging past and present through living-history programs that illustrate daily life of the past, including milling, spinning and weaving demonstrations.
Watch a woman clad in a pioneer dress and bonnet weave a rug and prepare preserves in her kitchen, help separate the wheat from the chaff, and learn how to make traditional cornbread with fresh cornmeal, which is also available for purchase in the mill’s general store.
Not only did Frederick Graue, a German immigrant, start up the area’s first gristmill, he also housed runaway slaves in its basement. The Graue Mill and Museum is an authenticated Underground Railroad station, and features photographs, documents, a computer interactive system and additional displays that allow visitors to better understand the danger and fear that fugitive slaves faced when attempting to escape to freedom.
On the first weekend of October, visitors can take a virtual journey on the Underground Railroad, experiencing what it was like to be a “passenger” and meeting up with legendary figures such as Harriet Tubman.
Be sure to visit the Fullersburg Woods Nature Center, located at the end of a short hiking trail linked to the Graue Mill, where visitors can view a mastodon skeleton and watch for birds over the expansive bend in Salt Creek.
Popularity:This article has been viewed
415 times.