In 1871, William Herbert Cooper started his small grist mill building, a wooden dam on Spoon Creek, with water to power the mill. Later a box factory was built to package plug tobacco for Spencer Penn Tobacco Company in Spencer, VA.
Cooper’s Mill-1871
Critz, VA (Patrick County)
About 1920, Benjamin Herbert Cooper (son of William Herbert Cooper) went to Nelson County and purchased a five by twelve foot steel water wheel. He worked in his blacksmith shop to make the wheels, cogs, and shafts himself. Later, he installed a hammer mill to grind feed also powered by the water wheel.
During the 1937 flood, part of the dam was washed out. Benjamin Herbert Cooper hauled logs on horse-drawn wagons to a small sawmill where new timbers were sawed to repair the dam. After a few months Cooper’s Mill was in operation again.
After Benjamin Herbert Cooper’s death, his daughter, Nannie Ruth Cooper Terry and her husband, N. C. Terry, took over operation of Cooper’s Mill.
Written by Phillip G. Cooper.
Source: Patrick County Historical Book
