South Carolina Department of Archives and History
National Register Properties in South Carolina

Sheriff Mill Complex, Pickens County (S.C. Sec. Rd. 40, Easley vicinity)

Sheriff01 Sheriff02 Sheriff03 Sheriff04 Sheriff05
Main House, Left Oblique Main House, Right Oblique Main House, Left Elevation Main House, Right Elevation Main House, Right Rear Oblique
Sheriff06 Sheriff07 Sheriff08 Sheriff09 Sheriff10
Main House, Rear Elevation Main House, Main Entrance Main House,
Detail Front Gable
Main House, Interior-
Living Room Mantel
Main House, Interior-
Bedroom Mantel
Sheriff11 Sheriff12 Sheriff13 Sheriff14 Sheriff15
Main House, Interior-
Central Hall Stairway
Mill Pond Dam Gristmill, South Elevation Gristmill, East Elevation Gristmill, Southeast Elevation
and Water Wheel
Sheriff16 Sheriff17 Sheriff18    
Gristmill, Northwest Elevation Miller House, Facade Miller House, Left Oblique

The Sheriff Mill Complex, located on Brushy Creek in the Zion community, includes a main house, gristmill, miller’s house, millpond, and dam constructed in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Owned and operated by the Sheriff family, the complex is representative of a late nineteenth and early twentieth century milling operation. It is one of the most intact gristmill complexes that has been identified in the state. In addition, the wood frame main house, constructed ca. 1898-99, is a significant example of a late nineteenth century adaptation and expansion of an I-house, a house type common in the Piedmont. Exodus Sheriff shared ownership of the gristmill property with his brothers Samuel and Alfred Sheriff. In 1881 they constructed the present one and one-half story gristmill on the site of an earlier corn mill. Sheriff family descendents operated the gristmill until about 1955. The corn and wheat milling machinery in intact. The present concrete dam was built around 1900 to replace an earlier log dam. The millpond served as a reservoir to power the gristmill’s waterwheel and for a sawmill that is no longer standing. The one and one-half story miller’s house was built around the mid-nineteenth century and served as the home of miller’s associated with the operation of the property. Listed in the National Register November 20, 1987.

View the complete text of the nomination form for this National Register Property.

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