The Jolly Mill is located on the south bank of Capps Creek, approximately seven (7) miles southwest of Pierce City, on the fringe of Newton County, Missouri. Access to the site is by a rural blacktop road south of U.S. Highway 60. In addition to the mill structure, the site property includes a small bungalow residence, but the latter building itself has little historical significance.
The Jolly Mill is a weathered, unpainted 30 foot by 80 foot i(30'x80'), two and a half (2 1/2) story rectangular wood frame structure about 36 feet (36') high on an original foundation made of hand-chiseled limestone slab laid without benefit of mortar. Approximately 95 per cent of the vertical and horizontal structural timbers are the original ones which were handhewn with adze tools. Vertical structural are 9 inch by 9 inch (9"x9") hewn oak. The first floor sill timbers are original half-round native oak logs. The second and third floor sill timbers are 6 inch by 8 inch (6"x8") hewn oak. All interior mid-support columns are 10 inch by 10 inch (10"x10") octagonal-cut hewn oak. All juncture connections are mortised and pinned with wooden pegs. On the third floor, the rafters and their vertical support timbers are peeled pole oak. The 10 sets of rafters are placed approximately 24 inches (24") apart. Each set is braced with a 6 inch by 8 inch (6"x8") hewn oak collar beam. Each pair of rafters and its joist is marked with matching Roman numerals (I to XL, consecutively). Roof sheathing is original hand-sawed 1 inch by 12 inch (1"x12") planks. The external wall cover is drop siding (4 1/2" wide).
There is no evidence that this pioneer utilitarian structure ever contained any decorative detail...
The Jolly Mill is a structurally sound example of a pre-Civil War enterprise 'that 'attracted the rise of frontier commerce and communication. Located on the bank of Capps Creek at the eastern fringe of Newton County, Missouri, where major springs once attracted Indian hunting camps to the valley, the Jolly Mill was assuring a year-round abundant supply of waterpower for its distilling and grist milling operations. The springs, less than a mile upstream, still make Capps Creek at the Jolly Mill one of the few unpolluted-trout streams remaining in Missouri.
Built by slave laborers whose adze marks are still visible on the oaken beams of the structure's framework, the Jolly Mill at first was better known for its alcoholic rather than its grist products. The distillery/mill activity quickly became the center of a bustling ante-bellum community. Since many farmers brought their grain to the mill so that they, at the same time, might enjoy some Jollification, and the mill it self eventually became known as the Jolly Mill.
In 1862, both Union and Confederate Army forces maneuvered near Jollification and bushwhacking guerrillas later burned the village to the ground, sparing only the Jolly Mill. After 1865, the distillery/mill was returned to use, and the village was partly rebuilt to become a communications center for post-Civil War wagon and stage coach travelers.
In the mid-1870s the Jolly Mill ceased its commercial distilling activity. At the same time, the arrival of railroads through Southwest Missouri .began killing the stagecoach and wagon traffic so that the Jolly Mill was involved in milling operations that served, to an increasing degree, the needs of local farmers. The village slowly faded after 1900.
Unlike hundreds of other frontier milling operations, however, the Jolly Mill persisted. Although processing custom grinding until the early 1970's. The ante-bellum structure, s.till stands, the object of tourist interest, history buffs and artists. And of people who have feelings of nostalgia for the Jolly Mill that once was.
In 1983 the idle mill was purchased by the Jolly Mill Park Foundation. The mill and dam have been restored and are open to the public. The mill occasionally grinds corn for visitors. The park is run by a private foundation charges a nominal admission.