As I mentioned before Christmas, Steve and I visited the mountains of northern Georgia for a couple of days. While driving on Main Street, we noticed Nora Mill Granary Helen GA which was established in 1876, so naturally we needed to stop and visit.
Nora Mill Granary Helen GA
Nora Mill Granary Helen GA
The Chattahoochee River behind Nora Mill Granary Helen GA
Nora Mill Granary was established almost 150 years ago. It still operates today as a gristmill that sits alongside the Chattahoochee River in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains. They still utilize the original 1,500 pound French Burr Stones to grind and produce corn and wheat based products like grits, cornmeal, pancake and waffle mixes, flours, biscuit and bread mixes, pioneer’s porridge and more. They also have an old fashioned country store and gift shop named “Nora Mill General Store” that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. The store is stocked with thousands of old fashioned items like candy, jams and jellies, cast iron and speckle ware, honey, and various kitchen items. If we had the space in our RV I could have spent a small fortune.
Ford tools and bags of grits, you never know what you’ll find at Nora Mill!
They even have a kitchen in the mill that was built just for cooking and serving samples of their products. Fortunately you can purchase everything they sell in the General Store from their website here: https://www.noramill.com/shop-all.
History of Nora Mill
Some antique milling equipment used at Nora Mill
The Nora Mill gristmill is a large four-story building that was built in 1876. There’s a 100-foot. wooden raceway that feeds water from the river to a water turbine, not a vertical water wheel. The mill was built by John Martin who had come to Georgia to mine for gold. Different from most miners, he decided to make the Sautee-Nacoochee Valley his permanent home.
Old milling rollers at Nora Mill Granary and Gristmill
The mill was built by John Martin when he came to Georgia to mine for gold. Unlike most miners, Mr. Martin made Sautee-Nacoochee Valley his permanent home. In 1902 Dr. Lamartine G. Hardman, who would later be governor of Georgia from 1927 -1931, bought the mill and named it “Nora Mill” to memorialize his late sister Nora. It remained in the Hardman Family until 1998.
Everything Corn
Through the years a succession of millers worked at the granary. In the early 1980s, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Ron Fain worked with the Harman family and obtained Nora Mill for himself and his parents. Their purpose was to bring Nora Mill Granary Helen GA back to life. Ron worked there with his parents until they passed. Then his youngest daughter Joann worked with him where she learned the art of milling.
Recipe development
Speckle ware for sale
The father and daughter team developed a number of corn and grain recipes that are famous to Nora Mill today. Such recipes as “Georgia Ice Cream TM”, “Dixie Ice Cream” and “Pioneer’s Porridge”, to name a few. They increased the number of products sold and opened a gift shop next door which they dubbed “Nora Mill Next Door”. Joann and Ron worked closely together until his passing in June of 2001. After his passing, Joann took ownership of the business and continued the operation of Nora Mill.
Still under Fain Family management
Syrups, jams and potions
Now, third and fourth generation Fain family members operate Nora Mill. Joe Vandegriff with his wife Addi manage the daily operations of the mill. Joe has also assumed the role of Miller to keep the stones up and running and keeping the corn flowing to produce the stone ground products that has made Nora Mill famous.
Sustainability is serious business
More jars of goodies than you could shake a stick at…
Nora Mill is a fully operational Grist Mill that takes pride in running the operation just like it was in 1876. Of course they have made a few upgrades since then, but the constant flow of the Chattahoochee River is what keeps them on the grind. From their local farm with full silos of Kentucky farmed corn is loaded into dump trucks and unloaded straight into the grain bins, which hold 8,000-10,000 pounds of corn. The process then continues by weighing, grinding, and separating Cornmeal and Grits.
Shrimp and Grits
Inside Nora Mill General Store
Naturally I did buy a large (2-pound) bag of Nora Mill white speckled grits. How could I resist? Over the next couple of days we were making a couple of short stops on our way to New Orleans, where we are now. But once we were situated in the Big Easy, and after we had the fabulous muffaletta from Central Grocery (purchased at Rouse’s Market) for dinner, I made some Shrimp and Grits for us to enjoy.
Luscious Shrimp and Grits made with Nora Mills Granary White Speckled Grits
In the past, as you can see in my recipe here: https://www.thetravelinglocavores.com/lemony-shrimp-and-cheesy-grits/, I’ve used Instant Grits. Now that I had these very special grits from Nora Mill Granary Helen GA, I was happy to stir for a while. And once Steve and I tasted the grits, which only took about 20 minutes to prepare, we were very happy that we had bought the large bag and not the smaller one pound bag. I see lots of grits in our future, so yummy!!!
