Last Sunday in Toledo we went to the Grand Rapids Apple Butter Festival. After the festival we stopped at the Isacc Ludwig Mill. It is a working lumber mill and a grist mill. I bought four pounds of freshly milled flour for only $2! Yesterday I made bread dough with it. I let it rise for a few hours, punching it down two or three times. After the last punch down before bed I put it in the fridge.

I will take it out of the fridge soon and let it rise for one or two more punch downs and then bake it. I find that I get a much better, and more complex, tasting loaf of bread when I let it proof for a long time. The texture, crust, and flavor all improve dramatically. Kind of like sourdough bread without the sour taste.

This link will take you to an aerial photograph of the Grand Rapids area and the the mill. The mill is on the north side of the river and west of the bridge. There is a little notch in the river's edge just south of the mill. This is where water that has just come through the mill's turbine exits into the river.

There is a canal on the north side of the river. The canal is higher than the river, and it is this difference in water height that runs the mill. There is also a mule drawn canal boat the operates on the canal and goes through one of the locks. Neat stuff.

This is the mill looking south. The water on the right side of the picture is the canal. It goes under the mill, turns a turbine, and exits into the river.


Same picture but showing more of the canal.


This is looking north at the mill from the river. You can see the area under the mill where the water enters the river. The first floor is the lumber mill. The second floor is the grist mill. Third story I think just holds machinery, belts, etc. Kind of like an elevator shaft.


Grinding Through Time - The Historic Isaac Ludwig Mill
A short article about the mill and its history.