Bristol, Indiana

and Bonneyville Mill Park

Bristol stands at the intersection of to state highways just a stone's throw from the Indiana Toll Road. Truck traffic through the town is relentless, possibly because Indiana 120 is a favored route for truckers wanting to avoid tolls.

Bristol has its charms and sweet spots and some contrasts. Have a look around, and see what you think.

1953 Masonic Temple hosts a sporting goods store on the first floor.

In the 1830s Edward Bonney established a grist mill and sawmill on the Little Elkhart River, planning to grow a thriving community along what promised to become a major transportation route. The transportation didn't evolve according to his expectations, and he sold the business and became a tavern keeper. Later he was accused of counterfieting and fled the area.

The mill was equipped with a turbine that allowed it to produce more power with less water flow and pressure than a vertical wheel, but the stone buhr mills were never replaced with the more efficient steel roller mills introduced in the 1880s.

Bonneyville Mill still grinds flour with the original stone mills, and the mill and its surroundings are an Elkhart County Park.

Lucid Energy Technologies, of Goshen, Indiana, has installed a generator driven by a Gorlov Helical Turbine in a duct mounted to the dam's bypass gate. The generator wasn't operating when I was there.