Thanks to the generosity of the A.E. Finley Foundation and the citizens of Wake County, the historic Yates Mill site (circa 1756) will soon have a central facility from which to greet, orient and educate park visitors. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new park center at Historic Yates Mill County Park took place Wednesday, July 9, in the park's new parking lot, located at 4108 Lake Wheeler Road.
Historic Yates Mill County Park is a 574-acre historic and environmental park that will open to the public in the spring of 2005. The centerpiece of the park is Historic Yates Mill – Wake County's last remaining gristmill. The old mill, located on Steep Hill Creek, operated as a water-powered gristmill for more than 200 years. The mill ground wheat and corn, sawed logs and carded wool. The restored and operable mill is an outstanding example and record of how early industry evolved in the lower Piedmont region of North Carolina.
The "A.E. Finley Center for Education and Research" will be an important facility and an integral part of the park site. (The A.E. Finley Foundation generously donated $1 million toward the center's construction.) The 16,000-square-foot building will be located adjacent to the millpond north of Yates Mill and will provide safe public access to the site, immediate access to the millpond for education and research and a distinct view of the mill, in addition to a pedestrian link.
The County is building the facility on land leased from N.C. State University for use by the County's Parks, Recreation & Open Space Division, NCSU and the nonprofit group Yates Mill Associates, along with the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and other interested educational organizations.
Programmed spaces in the center include a multi-purpose lobby that will be centrally located and will provide easy access to the public areas of the building, which include an exhibition gallery, auditorium, two teaching classrooms, a resource room and restrooms. Other areas include a catering kitchen, staff offices and workroom, and the NCSU research wing. A courtyard classroom and outdoor deck will be located overlooking the pond, adjacent to the teaching classrooms. These areas will serve as an observation deck for the mill and an outdoor environmental education classroom and will provide pond access for the teaching classrooms and park programs.
For more information, please call Yates Mill County Park Manager Rebeccah Cope at (919) 856-6675.