This 1817 weathervane is one of three vanes located on the grounds of Ye Olde Mill and the Velvet Ice Cream Company in Utica, Ohio.

Ye Old Mill replaced the McNaughton’s Mill, which burned in 1986. The building houses the Velvet Ice Cream Company and parlor that sells ice cream made on the premises. A museum exhibiting antique milling equipment is also found at Ye Old Mill.

The history of the mill site began in 1817 when James King constructed a sawmill to build a gristmill. The gristmill used an overshot wooden waterwheel. This gristmill was replaced in 1827 and again in 1865. This 1865 structure stood for 103 years and was known as the McNaughton Mill. It was a 3 1/2-story frame structure with a gray slate roof that had black slate on the north side that read “Cash For Wheat.” The date “1817” was displayed on the south side of the roof. A new roof replaced the slate in 1955. The mill was painted yellow with a mixture of yellow clay and linseed oil.

View all the weathervanes at Ye Old Mill.