The 12-foot waterwheel at Yates Mill has started to wobble, and its bolts have begun to wear through the wood. A nonprofit seeks $400,000 to replace it.

First built by the New Hamburg Trade Board in 1990, the waterwheel has started showing its age recently and even stopped rotating few years ago. In 2021, Figliomeni estimated the cost of upgrading ...

Yates Mill, one of the last functioning gristmills in the country, needs to replace its iconic 12-foot waterwheel. The wheel has worn out and threatening its centuries-old tradition of grinding corn.

Staff and volunteers are rebuilding the mill’s giant waterwheel using only tools that would have been available in the 18th century in Glen Mills on Friday, Apr. 11, 2025.© Emily Whitney/The ...

Millwrights spent three weeks rebuilding the 110-year-old waterwheel. All spokes, sole boards, and buckets were removed and replaced one at a time with new, longer-lasting oak.