Johnson (Mill) Johnson, Arkansas #AtoZChallenge

When we moved to Arkansas in the early 1980's, we rented a house for our first year there.  Our landlord was a woman who ran an Italian restaurant in the small town of Johnson, Arkansas called Antonio's.  She ran it with her husband, who died several years after we left Arkansas in the mid 1980s. He was originally from New Jersey and his restaurant smelled just like his mother's kitchen, according to my spouse. 

In 2013 we decided to visit Arkansas for the first time since we left in the 80's.  We wanted to stay in Northwest Arkansas, and one particular motel intrigued us.  It was called the Inn at the Mill, and was located in Johnson.

The motel is in a renovated historic building that was once a mill.  The mill was originally built in 1835, apparently destroyed during the Civil War, and reconstructed in 1867.  It was apparently rebuilt (according to the Washington County Historical Society) by "Jacob Q. Johnson and William Mayes, former Union soldiers, built or rebuilt a “large sawmill, with grist mill and flouring mill attached.” Oliver tells that the overshot water wheel drove the mill until 1898 when it was converted to turbine, likely run by steam. Today the mill has been converted and added on to, making a first class hotel and restaurant. J.Q. Johnson’s two-story brick house built just east of the mill in 1879 still stands."

(More on this history can be found here).

The mill building was converted to a motel around 1992. Two of its rooms are in the old mill (we didn't stay in those - fairly expensive).  The motel itself is still in business, and also contains a highly regarded restaurant.

We stayed there several nights and had a wonderful time.

Waterfall at the Inn, August 2013.

The temperatures were near 100 degrees F, and this Persian Shield plant was in its full glory.

An old machine on display.

The Mill.

Two other views.

The grounds were beautifully landscaped.  This is just a small part of it.

Art tile at the old mill.

Finally, a quilt on display.

In the years we lived in Northwest Arkansas (in Springdale for a year, Fayetteville for several months, and near the small town of Morrow for about four years) we didn't learn that much about the area's history.  I had even worked next to an antebellum building for a time and had no idea, although I knew I passed by two Civil War battlefields on my commute to work once we lived near Morrow.

For the various times we had eaten in Antonio's, we had no idea we were probably not that far from a historic mill, either.  I would love to go back again one day.

"J" day at the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:  Gardens, History, Art and The Unexpected.