About Us

Established in 1876, ​Nora Mill Granary is an operational gristmill sitting alongside the Chattahoochee River in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains. At Nora Mill, we utilize the original 1,500-pound French Burr Stones to grind and produce corn and wheat-based products such as grits, cornmeal, pancake & waffle mixes, flours, biscuit & bread mixes, pioneer's porridge, and the like. In addition, we have an old-fashioned country store & gift shop that we have named "Nora Mill General Store”.  The General Store is stocked with thousands of old fashioned items such as candy, jams & jellies, cast iron & speckle ware, honey, and various kitchen items.  We have a kitchen in the mill built just for cooking & serving samples of our mill & store products.  You can purchase our products at our mill and/or on-line from our web site.

 

The gristmill is a large four-story building that was built in 1876 and outfitted with 1,500 pound French Burr Mill Stones.  There is a 100 ft. wooden raceway that feeds water from the river to a water turbine; not a vertical water wheel. The mill was constructed in 1876 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, governor of Georgia from 1927 -1931, bought the mill and named it "Nora Mill" in memory of his sister Nora. Nora Mill remained in the Hardman Family until 1998, when it, along with 300 surrounding acres, was purchased by a group of investors associated with Nacoochee Village, Ltd.

 

After a succession of millers throughout the years, in the early 1980s, Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Ron Fain worked with the Hardman family and obtained Nora Mill for he and his parents to bring back to life and operate. Ron became the Miller of Nora Mill. Over the years, Ron worked with his parents until their passing.  Ron had his youngest daughter Joann working with him where she learned the art of milling and worked the Nora Mill business with him.  Together, they developed a number of corn & grain recipes that are famous to Nora Mill today. Recipes such as "Georgia Ice Cream TM", "Dixie Ice Cream", "Pioneer's Porridge", to name a few. They expanded the product offerings and opened the gift shop next door to the mill and named it "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.

 

Today, Nora Mill is in the third and fourth generation of the Fain family operation as grown children of Joann have stepped in to manage the operation of the mill.  The fourth generation of the family can be seen at Nora Mill Granary as grown children of Joann; specifically, Joe Vandegriff with his wife Addi are managing the daily operations of the mill. In addition to the daily operations, Joe has 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.

 

There have been many changes over the years, but the main idea is still the same, to grind fresh grains with no additives or preservatives with old-fashioned quality. Nora Mill has recently gone through a major refurbishing. We have expanded items in the gift store inside the mill now known as Nora Mill General Store.  The dam, raceway, and penstock have been rebuilt. We have enclosed the breezeway and have built a new porch & deck that overlooks our very own gigantic rainbow trout swimming in the beautiful Chattahoochee River. We have recently refurbished our grinding and milling machinery to ensure the highest of quality in the products that we produce, hand-bag, and offer on-site in our mill and through our Internet & mail order business.

 

Please take a trip to Helen, GA and the beautiful Sautee-Nacoochee Valley of the north GA mountains to see our mill in operation.  We’d love to see you!