S.P. Lonas Mill Site

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In 1897 Samuel Lonas purchased a mill at this site during Joseph Maphis’ bankruptcy sale. The “Maphis Mill” as it was commonly called had been constructed shortly after the Civil War when Joseph Maphis had acquired the land and rebuilt a mill destroyed during the burning.

Soon after buying the structure S.P. established the Lonas Milling Company, upgraded the equipment and set out to make a profit. He would have ground local cereal crops into flour for baking and into animal feed.

Lonas seems to have been successful. In addition to the mill he also operated a store in town and built an elegant residence that today houses Dellinger Funeral Home. He died in 1914 and the following year the mill was sold to J.I. Triplett to satisfy some of his estate’s debts.

Three years later the mill building burned.

However, Triplett had another use for the site and quickly built an electric power station on the ruins. The dam and mill race which had once powered a mill wheel, now supplied water to turbines that powered the town of Mt. Jackson and surrounding areas.

In the 1950s Virginia Power, which had become the area’s primary electric provider, closed local power plants. The mill then became a residence and its wheel was removed used in a mill reconstruction project in Maryland. Today, only ruins of the structures and a portion of the dam remain.