Historic Bowens Mills 160 Years of Michigan History

​Step back over 160 years in time at the beautiful Historic Bowens Mills. Once a thriving community, farmers brought their grain to the 1854 grist mill to be milled into flour and meal. Visit the antique apple cider press,​ ready for another fall apple season.

​Located in the western portion of Michigan, almost exactly halfway between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, Historic Bowens Mills is in the Yankee Springs area of Gun Lake. Today, it is a second-generation family-owned and operated Michigan state historic site whose mission is to preserve this 19-acre​ historical park and the history of Yankee Springs Township and Barry County for future generations to learn from and enjoy. 

A settlement started here in the mid-1830s when a land speculator named Montermer Martin purchased the plot of land from the government. In those early days of Barry County, a sawmill was needed for the area to grow, so the Payne family built the first dam and sawmill where the two creeks joined just north of the lake. The mill was powered by a water wheel with a four-foot fall, and soon they were sawing around a thousand feet of lumber a day.
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A couple of years later, a lawyer named Barlow purchased some of the land, including the sawmill. He saw the potential for more water power about a half mile up the creek and decided to relocate the mill to its present location. He reused much of the original timbers in the building of the new mill. He built a wooden dam across the creek, backing the water up 14 feet, and in the process, he created the Mill Pond.  He also flooded two smaller ponds to make a larger lake named Barlow Lake. He built a house on the east side of the Mill Pond where he lived, held court, and took care of legal matters.  

The sawmill changed hands several times before Edwin Bowen moved from Ohio and purchased it in 1864. He and his son William soon added a three-level grist mill to the operation. Until this point, the area had been known as Gun Lake, but sometime around 1870, the mill and the surrounding area became known as “Bowens Mills” in honor of its leading citizens.
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Edwin Bowen was named Postmaster. He kept the mail in a large basket inside the family home, where farmers from the surrounding country could call to pick up their letters. At the time, the mail was carried by stagecoach from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids, and someone would meet the coach in nearby Wayland to collect it. Mr. Bowen later placed a wooden letter holder in the mill office, where it can still be seen today.

​In the early 1870s, rumors were flying that the railroad going from Grand Rapids to Battle Creek would pass through Bowens Mills. Knowing that the mill would not be large enough to handle the new growth, Mr. Bowen removed the roof and added a fourth level. The railway ended up following the Thornapple River and never came​ to Bowens Mills.

​In 1902, Mr. Bowen purchased a huge Albright Cider press and added a large room to the side of the mill to house it.

Sadly, the village never grew larger than 100 people, but it had a sawmill, general store, blacksmith shop, and several other businesses. Bowen and his son William operated the mill, famous for its buckwheat flour until 1912.

The business changed hands several more times and continued to be a hub of activity: grinding flour and grist, making cider and vinegar, and also being used as a pickle weigh station. There was even a gas pump here for a while. Unable to keep up with the newer and faster mills in neighboring communities, business began to slow down,​ and the mill finally ceased operations in 1953 after 113 years of continual service to the Barry County community.

The next owners to purchase the property used the acreage to grow cucumbers for making pickles. During this time, the mill was used to house about 30 migrant workers who came each season to harvest the fields. The migrant workers brought their own cots, stoves, tables, and chairs, and they bathed in the pond. 

In 1971, four families bought the mill. They replaced the windows and doors that vandals had destroyed and did some basic clean-up. Over their seven-year ownership span, they opened the mill several times for tours. They were responsible for getting the “Michigan Historical Site” designation in 1972.

​The mill's current owners are Carleen and Owen Sabin. Mrs. Sabin’s parents, Neal and Marion Cook, purchased the mill in 1978. By this time, it had been sitting idle for 40 years, and it was their dream to see it operational again. 

During this time, they began relocating local historic structures and period pieces to the property, creating a small village similar to what the area had been like “back in the day.”  

Barry County’s oldest schoolhouse, dating from 1850, now resides on the property.  Inside, there is a desk with the name Ford carved into it.  Although unsubstantiated, there is much speculation as to whether President Gerald Ford, who grew up in nearby Grand Rapids, may have carved that name in it. 

The 1840s plank house, complete with a rope bed, a water pump outside, and farm animals out back, demonstrates what typical daily life would have been like at the time. 

The 11-room Victorian farmhouse, built by the Bowens in 1860, has been restored and is open for touring.

The grist and cider mills still grind and sell fresh cornmeal through their water-powered mill stones. ​

The absolute best time to visit is during the fall! They celebrate the month of October with Cider Sundays, during which all of the buildings are open. They also do demonstrations in the grist and cider mills and have scheduled many other fall activities.

They also put on a wonderful Civil War Reenactment, have live music, offer horse-drawn wagon rides through the grounds, and serve apple dumplings at the snack bar.  

​Historic Bowens Mills is open year-round by appointment for tours. It is also available to rent for special events. Their telephone number is (269)795-7530. They can be found on their website and Facebook pages for more information.

Visit my Michigan Collection to see more images from Historic Bowens Mills and the state of Michigan. 






​Historic Bowens Mills is located at: 
55 N Briggs Road, Middleville, MI

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About the Photographer

Susan Rissi Tregoning is the 8th photographer in the past 4 generations of professional photographers in her family. After a long career as an art buyer and interior designer, she put her career on hold in 2006 to travel with her husband and his job. In the process, she found her “roots” again,  developing a photography obsession far beyond casual snapshots that  evolved into a desire to capture each and every location and object as “art”. By meshing her two loves, photography and design, she has come full circle. Only now, she is creating art instead of just purchasing it. 

See an image you like? You can purchase Susan's work in  The Art Gallery.  
All images in the her collection are available as wall art, fine art prints, on home decor, gift items and apparel

"Autumn at Bowens Mills" Art Print on Wood

Bring your artwork to life with the texture and added depth of a wood print. Your image gets printed directly onto a sheet of 3/4" thick maple wood. There are D-clips on the back of the print for mounting it to your wall using mounting hooks and nails.

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