MOVING THE WATER BUILDING THE BUCKETS NAILING THE FACES Strong, rot-resistant white oak was used for the waterwheel buckets. Each of the 48 buckets required three pieces of oak to catch the water. Sixteen new white oak arcs provide strength and freshen the wheel's appearance. WHEN E.B. "ED" MABRY built his grist mill on a little creek in Floyd County in 1910, he could not have known it would become the iconic American country mill - the 16-foot waterwheel, shake-shingled roof, reflecting pond and a setting so gorgeous that postcards would one day feature the mill and the message, "Greetings from Connecticut" and "Greetings from Iowa." It has since become one of the most photographed sites on the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway. way no longer has the staff or maintenance budget it once had, so last year it asked the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation for help. The foundation set aside $65,000 for dredging the silted-over pond and rebuilding the waterwheel while still on its massive axle. 40 | BlueRidgeCountry.com The mill was first restored in the early 1940s and has been rebuilt several times since then. But the park-http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com