Watkins Mill State Park Travel Guide

Built in 1871. The Watkins family attended this church regularly.

The church is not open to the public on a regular basis, but can be used for special occasions, including a number of weddings. Standing on my tip-toes, I could just see in the windows to determine that the interior was plain, not elegant, as would have been befitting the worship styles of the era.

IF - you're at the Watkins Mill State Park on a really hot day, as we were, you might be well advised to take the walking tour early, then cool if while visiting the very nice museum within the visitors' center. It houses a number of neat exhibits pertaining to farm life in the mid to late 19th century.

The path running from the visitor's center to the mill is partially line with raspberry's. I thought I would get a little closer to the vines to get a picture of the path with those pretty red berries in the foreground. A little gust of wind whipped several of the branches onto my back, and I was stuck. I did pull myself loose, but my shirt was the worse for it.

Built in 1860 from bricks kilned on the property, this three-story mill is one of the largest in the midwest.

Its main drawing point is that the mill and its machinery, purchased in the east and shipped to Missouri by rail, are remarkably well preserved. This is the only 19th century textile mill in the US with its orignal machinery still intact. For a small fee, you can tour the mill (and the farm home with the same admission) with expert guides to explain its operation.

See my mill travelogue for additonal pictures.

Though not listed on the walking tour, the Watkins family grave yard is visible as pass by on the way to the farm home and mill.

Waltus and Mary Ann Watkins' home was begun in 1850 and completed in 1854. Guests can tour the Greek revival-style house as well as its gardens and orchards. Costumed interpreters recreate life as it would have been lived in the 1870s.