BECKLEY– A water-powered mill in Beckley will soon be considered for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the mill was built in 1838 by Alfred Beckley, the City of Beckley’s founder and namesake.
Few current Beckley residents knew of the former mill’s existence until the Beckley Historic Landmarks Commission and the Raleigh Historical Society began making plans to incorporate it into a city park.
While few early descriptions of the mill have been found, one was penned by President Rutherford Hayes, who visited the site in 1862.
If approved on Friday by members of the State Historic Preservation Office, the nomination will be forwarded to the National Park Service’s Keeper of the National Register office, which would act on the nomination later this year.
