Located along a historic trading route between Macon and Athens, the area surrounding Puritan Mill is steeped in history and natural beauty. Situated at the confluence of McNutt’s Creek and Barber Creek, homesteads and industry have called this site home for nearly two hundred years.

In 1847, Dr. John S. Linton and Albon Chase built the “Pioneer Paper Mill” on this site. Constructed at a cost of $32,000, it was the first paper mill built south of the Potomac River. By the following spring of 1848, the mill was producing around 600 pounds of paper per day. For the next ten years, the mill prospered until a fire in 1858 ravaged a section of the mill. During its reconstruction, other sections of the mill continued to produce paper, keeping the mill afloat until a second fire occurred in 1861. The second fire resulted in the mill being fully reconstructed by May 1862, and just a few years later, on August 2, 1864, the Civil War “Battle of Barber Creek” was fought just adjacent to the site. According to The Southern Banner, a local newspaper at the time, the employees of the mill were manufacturing paper when they received word that an attack on Athens was imminent. Work was halted as the employees took up arms.

For decades after the Civil War and the mill’s reconstruction, multiple attempts were made to revitalize the mill and utilize different resources to maintain production of quality paper. The mill continued to produce paper until 1887 when the business’s assets were sold to the highest bidder. While the new company attempted to continue the manufacture of paper, it ultimately failed, and the mill sat empty until 1893.

The Mallison Braided Cord Company manufactured cordage on this site from 1893 through the 1970s. In the 1960’s, Mallison established a division of the company called “Puritan Cordage Mills”. Thus, the namesake Puritan Mill was born. In its years of operation, the mill employed at least 100 people at any given time. Records show it ran 24 hours a day in the early 1900s.  After closing, the property sat vacant and was later used in the 1980s as a haunted house. After successive decades of neglect and abandonment, the mill succumbed to two fires in 2015 and 2019. The structures were then determined to be a total loss.

Since acquiring the land in 2021, Stratus Development Group has made a great effort to repurpose the historic Puritan Mill site while paying homage to its history. The historic mill water tower has been preserved and serves as the centerpiece of the development. Loose bricks from the destroyed mill were thoughtfully hand-picked from the debris and then re-used in foundations of the current structures. The former mill pond and waterfall have also been preserved and are featured prominently for residents and guests. Stratus Development Group values rooting the community in its rich history while creating a lively environment for its residents to call home.

Fun fact: The mill pond waterfall was featured as a filming location for “The Spectacular Now” in 2013, starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley.