(C. N. Bayless)
Rice was threshed from the stalks and the husk was pounded from the grain by hand well into the 19th century. By the 1830s, however, steam-powered threshing and pounding mills had become common. Chimneys, which were required for the fires running the steam engines, were independent structures connected to the mills by an underground system. Chicora Wood is the only Georgetown County rice plantation with an extant mill building and chimney.
Questions for Photo 4
1) How do you think the development of threshing and pounding mills affected work on rice plantations? How do you think it affected the amount of rice a plantation could produce?
2) Do you think it is important to make sure this mill and chimney are preserved? Why or why not?
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