The water wheel continues to turn, but the mill structure is currently surrounded by scaffolding as work on the roof is ready to begin. The National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center is in charge of the restoration.
Kevin Brandt of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation can't pin down the age of the old roof, “We don’t really know exactly how many years it’s been, but quite a few.”
Brandt explains that there is a lot that goes into maintaining the integrity of the structure’s original look, “They’re replacing the ‘shakes’, as they’re called, with hand-rived shakes made from white oak trees. And it’s a very specific kind of oak, and the hand-riving process is really quite amazing.”
William Cardis and Brian Crampton are the craftsmen who will be doing the work. The two possess nearly 75 years of carpentry experience between them.
Crampton lays out a dozen or so of the shakes to show me how they will be applied. His working man's hands move with confidence as he explains, “We’re going to do an overlap of an inch-and-a-half. They’ll be nailed as you see. We’re using a steel wire nail because the concept behind the steel wire nail is that it rusts. And it will put a patina on the oak as it would have been when the mill was built in 1904 to 1908.”
Though Cardis is a veteran of many projects, his enthusiasm for Mabry Mill is evident in his voice. He says the new roof will be long-lasting and restore the deserved luster to the mill, “They probably should last twenty to thirty years. They really look rustic when they’re installed. And they’ll make this mill shine!”
There is more work to be done at Mabry Mill. But the roof project is a major step in assuring the long-term preservation of one of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s most popular and photographed spots.
Learn more about Mabry Mill and the effort of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation here.
