Oakland, Charter Township (Oakland, MI)
Oakland, Charter Township (Oakland, MI)
4480 Orion Rd
Rochester, MI 48306
Nestled between Orion Road and the scenic Paint Creek Trail, the Paint Creek Cider Mill is a historic building and cornerstone of Oakland Township, serving as a community hub and office headquarters for the Oakland Township Parks & Recreation Department.
Main Floor: The ground level of the Paint Creek Cider Mill Building is designed to cater to the community’s needs. It features versatile space for meetings, events and programming, public restrooms, water fountain and a currently vacant retail space. Whether you’re stopping by for a quick break during your trail hike or attending a local event, the main floor offers a welcoming atmosphere for all.
Second Floor: The upper level is a center for local governance and environmental stewardship. It houses the offices of Oakland Township Parks and Recreation, Oakland Township Historic District Commission, Paint Creek Trailways Commission, and Six Rivers Land Conservancy. These organizations work to preserve the natural beauty and historical significance of the area, ensuring that both residents and visitors can enjoy the trail and park system for generations to come.
Needham Hemingway built a dam across Paint Creek, and dug a race three-fourths of a mile long to, where he constructed a two-story frame building, 26’ by 56’ for a gristmill. The mill later sold to William Goodison in 1866 for $3,600.
Goodison increased the size of the mill and added an additional run of millstones to grind grain. Michigan Central Railroad traveling from Detroit to Bay City made stops at the mill, soon to be known as Goodison’s Station, the namesake for Oakland Township’s hamlet of Goodison. The mill was sold to the Barnes Brothers in 1881 who operated it for 32 years.
Partners, Cramer and Bingham, bought the gristmill from the Barnes family and renamed Oakland Mills which produced pure stone ground, buck wheat flour. The new owners, realizing a good flow and head from Paint Creek, added a Leffel & Samson Turbine to provide more waterpower. Only a few years later Maurice Collins, the local blacksmith, purchased the mill, general store, and added a sawmill to the south. After the death of Maurice Collins in 1941, the mill ceased to grind grain
Entrepreneur Dale O. Miller, Sr. purchased the complex of buildings, and during World War II, the mill building was utilized as a box operation and storage for apples and potato crates. His vision was to restore the mill into cider mill operations.
Miller Sr., with hopes to restore the mill into a destination cider mill, hired well-known architects Giffels & Valet Inc. and L. Rossetti for concept designs. Hemingway’s original Gristmill from 1835 was too far deteriorated and was sadly dismantled with a material salvage of hand-hewn timbers to be incorporated into the new cider mill building.
William G. (Jerry) and Lucy Mancour purchased the Paint Creek Mill building from Dale Miller Sr. The Mancour family worked to expand cider mill operations to include a small restaurant. The 1970s and 1980s improved electrical building adaptations, yet the waterpower from the Paint Creek millrace continued to operate for aesthetic purposes.
After attempting to find a company to restore the 1957 Fitz waterwheel wheel, Mancour rebuilt it himself using the Fitz steel design as a guide. He made a wooden replica wheel with forty-eight, hand-machined, White Oak paddles, weighing over two tons.
Raymond J. and Mary Nicholson purchased the complex from the Mancour family in 1996, continuing its central gathering place for Goodison as a cider mill, restaurant, and pub. The thriving business was donated to Oakland Township in 2005 by the Nicholson family. The township redesigned the second-floor space for office use.
