I can remember the first time I went to The Old Mill. It was three years ago and I had just turned thirteen years old. As we drove into the parking lot, getting ready to park, I became more and more ecstatic and cheerful. I had never, from what I remember, seen anything more beautiful and serene in my life. When I arrived, I was in awe by how peaceful and content everything was. As we parked, I saw the beautifully, colored flowers. I got out of the car and ran over to a bush of roses. I picked one of the bright red roses, trying to avoid being pricked by the sharp thorns. I couldn’t help but let the wonderful, sweet aroma lift me in the air. My favorite part, though, was the sound of the silence that surrounded me. The silence was abruptly broken by the noisy bell being rung by my excited mom. She was ringing the bell in order to get my attention to go over to where she was. As I approached her presence, I heard the sound of the water flowing off of the water-wheel. I looked over the bridge and saw the water breaking the stillness of the pond. The water was joining together again and I smiled at the ripples in the water. As I was sitting on one of the soft, flat rocks posing for my mom to take a picture, I looked at the Old Mill building and I studied the pattern of the bricks. There were all different shades of brown in the bricks and I sort of enjoyed that they weren’t all the same. The cool, blue water looked very refreshing and I wondered what it would be like to be a fish that got to swim around in it all day long. Looking into the water, I saw the reflection of the big, brown water-wheel. All I could do was smile. The day was growing old so my mom and I decided to start heading back to the car and go home. I was sliding my hand across the railing of the bridge, trying to feel how smooth it was. The whole time this was happening I was hoping I wouldn’t get a splinter. On my way back home I was thinking over my day and I began to think about how proud I am that the Old Mill is big part of my beautiful hometown. I have been to The Old Mill several times. Almost every time I have been, there are always professional photographers taking wedding photos, graduation pictures, or just pictures of the beautiful scenery. The Old Mills’ classic backdrop, including the carved wooden bridges and the abundance of colorful flowers, provides the perfect pictures for any photographers dream. I decided to research it and I learned that the Old Mill is located in North Little Rock, and officially known as "Pugh's Mill Park." It's not an actual old mill, but a life-sized sculpture by Dionysio Rodrigues, built and landscaped in 1933 as a replica of the real Pugh's Mill which actually milled actual grain a century earlier. It's a really beautiful garden spot, a popular place for many people that want to see something peaceful. The two-story, rock mill building is fitted with a five-ton water wheel. In the building are remnants of a working mill that has been neglected for years. The floor and stairs have the look of well-worn wood planks, and the hand railings seem to be logs and limbs nailed together. But some things in the mill aren’t what they appear to be. The iron gristmill on the first floor was from a working mill for many years and dates to 1828 from the Cagle family in Pope County. Several millstones, as well as some iron pieces from the shaft of a steamboat that once cruised the Arkansas River, are in the building. Of historical interest at the old mill are some 19th century millstones. These stones were set in place by an army engineer named Jefferson Davis, who later became the president of the Confederacy. The stones were used to mark the way for native tribes being relocated to western lands, thus marking two miles worth of the "Trail of Tears”. The Cherokee and Choctaw Indians traveled on the Trail of Tears into Indian Territory. I’ve been told that The Old Mill appeared in the movie "Gone with the Wind." Now if you're from my hometown, you are subjected all your life to one stretcher after another. I didn’t believe the "Gone With the Wind" story, until I researched The Old Mill and watched the movie, only to come to a point where I learned that The Old Mill is an authentic reproduction of an old water-powered gristmill, which in fact, did appear in the opening scene of the classic 1939 movie, “Gone With the Wind”. The Old Mill looks as if it were built and in service in the 1880s, but was really completed in 1933. The Old Mill is a huge part of my hometown, North Little Rock.
