In 1837, the year Michigan became a state, this mill was completed after having been under construction for about three years.The building was started by Ed W. Matthews who had come from New York, and had purchased a large tract of land around where the mill is now located. Financial difficulties made it impossible for him to finish the project. It was then purchased by Peter VanEvery who completed the building, and conducted the business of grinding grain, or exchanging flour for grain, and in general, acting as miller for an area of many miles in all directions. Peter VanEvery also had many others enterprises in and around Franklin that was then known as the Stoughton and Bullok Settlement. One of them was the Distillery, which was located across the road from the grist mill, (now the Franklin Cider Mill), and part of the old foundation is still visible there.

An interesting feature about the mill is that the original lumber was white oak, white pine and black walnut, all hewed and finished by hand. Except for the roof and siding which has been replaced over the years.

The original water wheel was an "undershot" type, and was probably made almost entirely of wood. The present water wheel, one of the largest in the country, was installed soon after the turn of the century. We know very little about the press except that is was shipped to this country from Europe in the early part of the nineteenth century. It is rated at nearly 90 tons pressure.

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