A different view on current affairs & history
Mills were initially used for grinding grain into flour and in the case of Port Elizabeth they were used to compress bales of wool. Prior to the invention of motors, mills were powered by wind or water. During the Industrial Revolution, the definition of mills was expanded to include factories fitted with machinery which performed a specific manufacturing process.
Main picture: Painting of Cradock Place with the mill tower in the background by Thomas Baines
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The saga of how Port Elizabeth acquired an unsuitable dam on a trickle of a river as its first primary water supply in the 1860s, is explained in this blog. Sadly after a decade the water became saline and no longer potable. Perhaps this venture was emblematic of the era where vision was limited by parsimony and where, despite the Council’s laudable motives, was doomed to failure.
For all that, the Town Council did protect the interests of its residents by not financing the project itself. So, when bankruptcy did occur, no losses were borne by the denizens of the town.
Main picture: Opening the valve at the Frames Dam in 1863
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