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Mill Scene by Walter Alexander Bailey
Photo CreditCarol M. Highsmith Photography
Mill Scene
Photo CreditCarol M. Highsmith Photography

Mill Scene

Artist
Year1934
Classification painting
Dimensions96" x 69"
Credits New Deal Art Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Location
  • Watts Mill, built in 1832 by John Fitzhugh, was constructed of hand-hewn walnut and oak with pegs made of hickory. The mill - and subsequently, the Watts Mill area of Kansas City - got its name when Anthony Benaugh Watts, a St. Charles, Missouri millwright, purchased the gristmill in 1849. It remained in the Watt's family for two generations. The mill was located on Indian Creek near 103rd Street and State Line Road in Jackson County, Missouri. During the mid to late 1800s and until the turn of the century, the mill served the community by grinding both corn and wheat. Payments to the mill were not recieved in currency, but rather one-fifth of their grist.  The painting depicts a stream flowing past a central mill house surrounded by trees.  Signed: "Walter A. Bailey, 1934"