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Star Mill was built in the early 1800s. The exact date is not known at this point, but is approximately 1825 – 1830. The first recording found in Lagrange County Archives identifies the reconstruction of a grist mill in 1848. From these early days, Star Mill was a grist milling enterprise and carried on so for 70 or 80 years. In the early 1900s, the grist mill was shut down after the completion of a new structure converting the water power into electricity. Two Westinghouse generators atop two Francis turbines were placed into service. This modern technology was reported to cause the first electrification of a city in Indiana. That community being Howe, Indiana. A permanent structure was built around the generators of wood frame and brick. Located within the brick wall is a date stone of 1930.
This facility ran and produced electricity until 2000. In around 1958, the last remnants of the old grist mill were removed. This flower mill was located on the southwest side of the powerhouse, which now stands, and its original foundations are still in place.

 The new owner of the mill, Charles Rhines, owner of Star Mill Inc., located at 300 W. C.R. 725 N, Howe, Indiana, plans to renovate the turbine house and spillway and remove the silt from the river, marketing it as a natural fertilizer, which would also widen the banks of Fawn River. Howe, Indiana.

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Last Edited :  10 March 2015 10:42:11