Water Mills of the Missouri Ozarks by George G. Suggs

Water Mills of the Missouri Ozarks by George G. Suggs, Jake K Wells (Illustrator)

Until the early twentieth century, water mills were the center of the economic and social life of many small communities throughout the nation’s calm rural backwaters, including the Missouri Ozarks. In this book, first published in 1990, George G. Suggs, Jr., presents the stories of twenty Ozark water mills, and Jake Wells illustrates these vignettes with drawings and beautiful watercolors.

In introducing his historical sketches, Suggs traces the transatlantic origins and development of water mills, describing their spread throughout Western Europe to North America and noting early American contributions to water mill technology. In an epilogue he emphasizes the economic and social roles of the mills in the early life of the Missouri Ozarks.