TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The Old Bridgeton Mill is a main stop for so many guests during the Covered Bridge Festival, but the owners are making some changes this coming summer.
Since 1995, Mike and Karen Roe have had the Bridgeton Mill open seven days a week, from April until December.
It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the state of Indiana.
Recently, the Roe’s have put the mill up for sale.
Mike Roe said the everyday labor has taken its toll on them physically.
“The grinding, handling those heavy bags of grain and flower and cornmeal, it has just gotten to be too much me”, Roe said. “Then my wife runs the bakery, and she also runs the snack shop.”
He said he knows he is making the right decision, but it wasn’t easy.
“It took me a month or more to actually accept this”, Roe said. “It has been a dream come true.”
Although the Roe’s do not know who the buyer will be yet, they are hopeful the new owners will carry on the tradition of the mill.
Mike has even offered to help them in the process.
“I’m really hoping the news owners will want to carry on”, Roe said. “I will come in, if they want, and help them with the machinery.”
The Roe’s thank everyone who has worked at, volunteered, or just stopped by to visit the mill, as it has created so many memories for their family.
“It’s been a wonderful, wonderful adventure”, Roe said. “We love this place, our family loves this place, but it’s time.”
Roe said the mill has been open, at least close to, every year since 1823 and although his time is done there, he hopes the families continue to make memories there for years to come.
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