For info on the Kenan’s Mill Festival, please click here.
Kenan’s Mill was built in the mid 1800′s and produced water-ground meal, grits and corn for over 100 years. The grounds also include a fascinating 19th Century brick charcoal kiln. Kenan’s Mill was built and continuously owned by the Kenan family until Elizabeth Kenan Buchanan donated it to the Historic Society in 1997. Restoration is ongoing, and the mill is currently operating on special occasions by the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society. It is open to the public for special events, usually on the 3rd weekend in March and once in the fall. Tour groups are welcome – $5/person, minimum $100. Call 334-412-0722 or email kenansmill@historicselma.org to arrange a date and time for a private tour. Kenan’s Mill is a great place to hold your wedding, party, or special occasion. For complete Rental Information, please click here and for the new Photography Policy, please click here.
Kenan’s Mill remains one of the most interesting historic sites in Dallas County. Restored in time for Kenan’s Mill Days of Pilgrimage 2002, the first bag of corn was ground into meal on March 16 of that year. Water again spills over the dam and extensive landscaping by the Master Gardeners has restored the area to its native beauty.
High on the wooded bank, suspended over rushing brown waters of Valley Creek, the old mill stands. Weather-worn boards, still bearing marks of a craftsman’s tools, still staunch in protection of the mill stones and empty bins within. And on the wide-planked floor, an occasionally shaft of sunlight dances fitfully, withdrawing through cracks between the silvery lathes. Only the lapping of swift-rushing waters against crumbling brick walls below breaks the silence of years. And echoes whisper of days that are no more, of a lifestyle now history.
The circa 1860’s gristmill and its property was donated in 1997 by Elizabeth Kenan Buchanan to the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society. The mill has been restored to operating order as a living-history museum, and souvenir bags of stone-ground cornmeal and grits are offered for sale.
As use of local gristmills declined, the mill survived by serving local grocers, and a miller lived in the residence until 1968. The mill property also once served as a water park. In 1904, Owen Kenan made improvements to the mill and added a swimming pool, dance floor and picnic island. But a flood in 1939 destroyed the buildings and the island.
When the enormous water-powered stones of the gristmill start up again, the 48-inch grist stones will turn as the gates are raised to let Valley Creek course through the tunnel under the 
mill and reach the turbine. The stones of the mill are the original millstones and were sharpened during restoration. Running at top speed, the mill could grind a ton of meal. However, we now run the mill slowly so that visitors may watch the process during Pilgrimage in the spring and Kenan’s Mill Festival in the fall.
Visitors can also cross Valley Creek on a swinging bridge and see the beehive kiln. Tour the mill house and view the wonderful kitchen garden before exploring the antique farm implements. Also of interest are the new red barn in which public restrooms are located and the bandstand.
