For those wanting to stop by and see something beautiful while driving along I-70 in Richmond Indiana, here’s something that might interest you — the Thistlethwaite Falls!
Located 70 miles east of Indianapolis, the falls is man-made and open to the public all-year-round!
History of the Thistlethwaite Falls
On this site in 1854, Timothy Thistlethwaite and his brother-in-law Joseph Ratliff dammed the water of the river with the use of farm teams. They placed large boulders at the bottom of an earth and stone filled in the river channel. This changed the course of the river to flow into a new channel over a rocky ledge, forming the Thistlethwaite Falls. It has withstood a century of floods of the seasons.
Timothy’s wife’s grandfather, Cornelius Ratliff, Sr. came to this site in 1810. He was impressed with the heavy growth of timber and the mass of building stone lying loosely in the bed of the river.
See also: Model T Museum, a Ford Collection of Vehicles in Richmond Indiana
Mr. Thistlethwaite’s saw mill at this site was placed at the edge of the falls over a shoulder of rock and near the bull wheel. A lock, was installed above the falls to regulate the volume of water used in turning the water wheel. The 47′ fall from the falls allowed Timothy’s development of several mills (a grist mill, flour mill, paper mill and lumber sawing mill) in the Happy Hollow district of early Richmond.
After 80 years nothing remained as a reminder of these mills except the pit at the falls which ran the bull wheels of the up-and-down saw and a portion of a continuation of a raceway from the paper mill site downstream.
Where is it located?
Address: 65 Waterfall Rd, Richmond, IN 47374, USA
Click this link for the Google Map directions.
