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

Ellerbe's Mill, Sumter County (U.S. Hwy. 521 on Rafting Creek, Rembert vicinity)
EllerbesMill01 EllerbesMill02 EllerbesMill03 EllerbesMill04 EllerbesMill05
Mill-South Facade Mill-Interior Mill-Interior Main House
South Elevation
Main House
West Elevation
EllerbesMill06 EllerbesMill07 EllerbesMill08 EllerbesMill09  
Main House
Original Kitchen
Main House
Interior-Entry Hall
Main House
Interior-Mantel
in Library
Main House
Interior-Central Stair

(Millvale) Built around 1830 by Garner Sanders, Ellerbe’s Mill is a two-and-one-half-story pine clapboard building mounted on wooden pilings situated on a 90-acre millpond. The grist mill, in operation since before the Civil War, is a functioning example of an essential nineteenth century industrial process. Its water power is derived from internal chutes and a turbine rather than a wheel. Modern equipment has been added to the grist mill – working parts were replaced in 1880 and the interior was remodeled in 1928. The building was once a center for social and political interaction in rural Sumter County. Ellerbe’s Mill and the nearby store (originally built before the Civil War but replaced in 1910) once formed the chief commercial center for a 10-mile square area. In addition to the mill and store, structures on the property include a ca.1890 house, several tenant houses, and a dovecote. The two-story white clapboard house was built by W.C.S. Ellerbe, nephew of Sanders, and features a first floor veranda with square columns and gingerbread scroll saw-work and a second floor partially screened porch with a Victorian vine-bracketed balustrade. Listed in the National Register November 20, 1974.

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

Most National Register properties are privately owned and are not open to the public. The privacy of owners should be respected. Not all properties retain the same integrity as when originally documented and listed in the National Register due to changes and modifications over time.

Images and texts on these pages are intended for research or educational use. Please read our statement on use and reproduction for further information on how to obtain a photocopy or how to cite an item.


Images provided by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.