When we first discovered the water wheel pieces and mill timber protruding from the bank, we really didn't expect for much of it to be intact. We assumed the wheel was about four feet wide or less, so excavation would only require a couple of hours of digging by my Dad and me. We were very wrong!

As we began the excavation, we were amazed at the condition of the wood. It looked as if it had only been there a couple of years. There was tightly packed clay all around the wheel and timber, which preserved everything. This amazement was compounded when we reached the width of four feet on the wheel and realized that it continued into the bank. We stopped the excavation, realizing that we needed more help and lots more time.

Our first excavation with volunteers went well. We started by determining how wide the water wheel was. We dug a small trench on one side of the wheel until we reached the width of six feet. The wheel continued! We figured at this point we may have a wheel eight feet wide. We were wrong again. The wheel continued, then when we reached eight feet. At this point, we realized that this day would not be our only day excavating this enormous wheel.
Harry Adkins was determined to find the end of this wheel, so without stopping for a couple of hours we continued our trench until we reached the end of the water wheel. We measured and found that we had a water wheel sixteen feet wide!