John George Knauss purchased land along Cedar Creek, Cetronia, South Whitehall in 1759 and built a grist mill a year later.

Now The Haines Mill, named for the last family to own it, is open for tours weekends from 1-4 p.m. May to September. On this day, July 21, the tour was followed by the music of the Allentown Band on the lawn behind the mill.

The mill closed in 1956, unable to keep up with larger, more modern competition.

Cousins Ira, Robert and Wilbur Haines decided to sell the mill. Lehigh County bought Haines Mill in 1972, restored it and opened it to the public in 1974.

Wilbur, the last miller, served as a guide for many years. Quotes from him are included in the mill's brochure.

Three hundred pounds of flour could be ground in an hour. Haines ground oats, barley, rye, wheat, corn and buckwheat.

The roller mills, installed in 1880, would first remove the bran (the outer covering) from wheat.

At that time, the bran was considered good only to be mixed into animal feed. Now, it has been found to be healthful and is used in human food, such as bran muffins.

The grain was reground several times to make a fine powder. When Pillsbury was called and asked what the advantage was for bleached white flour, guide Peter Carr said they talked in circles and never did give a good answer.

However, whole wheat flour can get rancid if kept too long.

In summer, when the crops were coming in the miller was there 24 hours a day, six days a week.

Seven in the morning until 10 p.m. was the normal workday but he slept on the premises in case something went wrong.

Farmers would bring grain to the mill. It would be lifted by a pulley to the second floor where it was weighed and poured into a separator on the main floor where stones and stems were removed.

The non-grain items shaken out were weighed. If they weighed 50 pounds, that amount would be subtracted from the weight at the scale.

Guide Jeanne Ring pointed out the trolley tracks and a trolley in an old picture of the mill. The tracks crossed the millrace. The trolleys brought people from Kutztown and Allentown to Dorney Park.

The third floor provided storage for grains that were ready to sell.

In 1867, the mill was owned by the Lichtenwalner family. Jacob Haines married Lillian Lichtenwalner and, in 1906 he purchased the mill. Two years later, there was a devastating fire.

Before buying grain Haines would taste it for quality. Garlic was a common contaminant.

He had accepted some grain with too much moisture before he went on vacation.

The mill burned by spontaneous combustion. It took two years to repair the inside damage.

When the mill was rebuilt, it included a turbine, which was more effective than a waterwheel.

In addition to animal feed for farmers, flour was made for baking and some bakeries bought their flour at Haines.

Red wheat, when ground, was popular for making pretzels.

Haines never used the colorful feed bags that housewives used for sewing. The mill said its product was so good it did not have to use that kind of gimmick.

Norman Dotterer from Claussville recorded his memories of the mill as a boy in the 1920s. The recording is in the office and is played during tours.

Bagged corn cobs sold for 20 cents, in bulk (by the scoop) the cost was 10 cents, and a bag delivered sold for 30 cents. Among other uses the cobs could be used to smoke meat. Wilbur Haines put in a chute that delivered the cobs directly to the outside of the mill.

Kenny Haines still lives across the street from the mill. He was in the Air Force, but tells stories of having to work in the mill after school.

His grandfather, Ira, was one of the owners when the decision was made to sell the mill.