Waterground / a film by Frances Morton with [ten others].

Format:

Video

Contributor:

Morton, Frances, filmmaker.

Appalshop, Inc., publisher.

Series:

Academic Video Online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

General Mills, Inc.

Water mills--North Carolina--Watauga County.

Water mills.

Gristmills--North Carolina--Watauga County.

Gristmills.

Flour industry--Tennessee--Johnson City.

Flour industry.

Genre:

Documentary films.

Short films.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (17 minutes)

Place of Publication:

Whitesburg, KY : Appalshop Inc., 1977.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

video file

Summary:

Walter Winebarger is the fifth generation of his family to operate Winebarger's Mill, a waterpowered gristmill located at Meat Camp, near Boone, North Carolina. He continues to grind flour and meal using a process that has changed very little since the mill was built a hundred years ago. In Waterground, water diverted from a nearby creek splashes onto a large, overshot wheel and brings the interior of the mill to life in a chain reaction of gears, belts, and grinding stones. As Winebarger fills bags with freshly ground flour, he reflects on the history of his mill and the social changes that have affected it. The simplicty of the mill and Winebarger's comments on the difficulties facing the small farmer are contrasted with a visit to a large General Mills plant in Johnson City, Tennessee where 44,000 bags of flour are produced every day, and Waterground makes for a fascinating portrait of an industry in flux before the modern industrial complex took over.

Participant:

Walter Winebarger.

Notes:

Title from title screen (viewed September 22, 2025).

OCLC:

958295481