Deep River County Park & Wood’s Historic Grist Mill is known and loved for its water wheel. Ensuring the wheel is here for years to come, Lake County Parks and a group of dedicated volunteers have worked tirelessly to maintain this landmark.
Like most great things in Northwest Indiana (NWI), the work and dedication for this project came from the people of our community.
A volunteer for the parks department since 1993, Larry Modglin was asked to head up this project. In its second year of development, the improved water wheel is getting closer to completion.
“The wheel is a 16-foot tall circle and is 36-32 inches wide,” Modglin said.
Hoping for a late September-October operational date, Lake County Parks maintains and upholds Deep River Park for its historic aspects.
In addition to the water wheel, these elements include the grist mill, historic buildings, and classic events. In October alone, Deep River Park will host a Deep River Grinders baseball game on October 1 and a naturalist skills training program on October 19.
To be a part of this historical focus, visitors travel from all over to see the grist mill’s wheel in action. However, unlike traditional water wheels, the one being created today is a 21st-century version.
“The water wheel doesn’t power the mill in any way,” Modglin said. “It's not actually like a working wheel in terms of creating power.”
Although the Historic Grist Mill’s wheel isn’t needed for power, it is still an operational piece of history.
“The wheel is actually a turbine,” Modglin said. “Lake County Parks put a wheel up before, and it was made of steel and that ended up not looking that good.”
Understanding that to complete a project of this importance they needed to focus on quality, Modglin and the team worked to build the new wheel completely from scratch.
“We started with a primitive sketch of a small water wheel,” Modglin said. “We incorporated the plans for the small water wheel into a 16-foot water wheel for the park."
The creation process is more than just developing the wheel. Lake County Parks must also create a system that supports the wheel for the long term.
“Everything that we have in the river to pull in water gets filled up with sand,” Modglin said. “First, the water source has to be cleaned out. Then we can start pumping water.”
To complete the process, Modglin and other volunteers have crafted each piece and gear from wood. Soon, they will begin to treat these pieces with an EPA-approved preservative meant to prolong the life of the wheel.
Most would assume that finding volunteers for a job of this magnitude would be difficult. Modglin simply turned to his former colleagues.
“One of the guys I used to work with at the mill happened to be walking through the park while I was volunteering, and he said ‘Let me know if you need help,’” said Modglin. “He meets with other co-workers on Wednesdays for lunch and tells them about it. Next thing you know, five of them showed up the next day.”
Becoming a part of history themselves, the volunteers for Lake County Parks are creating a treasure for us all to enjoy for decades.
Deep River Park is located at 7510 County Line Road in Hobart and is open every day from 7 a.m. until dusk. To learn more about events at Deep River Park and around Lake County, please visit lakecountyparks.com.
