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The Flour Mill in Miedzna Drewniana

Poland Traditions & Interest

Tim Firkowski

Saturday, 24 September 2016

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Some of the more "modern" mill equipment. While we were traveling to the church in Żarnów we were passing through Miedzna Drewniana. Miedzna Drewniana is a small village that is the home to a relative. Gosia mentioned that there is a mill nearby that belongs to this relative & we should stop and see it and say hello. After driving and not finding it, we asked a local where it was & discovered that we had driven right past it. We had a short but nice visit with the Górnik family.

The mill still gets used today, but only for small batches of grain after harvest. It is also now used to help teach students about the process of milling flour.

The flour mill is located about 200 meters east from cross roads to Paradysz and to Opoczno, on the Weglanka River. This mill used to be run by water wheel, but now the wheel has been removed and is run by electric motor. There has been a mill here or nearby for a long time. It is shown on maps from the XVIII/XIX century. The present mill was built in about 1890 & was made of wood, with a stone foundation. The mill was inherited by Magdalena Firkowska-Górnik after her father died in 1983. This mill was originally built and owned by Count Plater who live in Białaczów & later
sold it to

The Flour MillMadalena's grandfather before WWII. They had been living in Tomaszów & after purchasing the mill they moved to Miedzna Drewniana. The mill then passed to her father and then eventually to her, so it has been in the family for three generations (Four generation if you count her son).

A few of the machines are still made of wood, but most that grind flour are steel and cast iron. In 1970 the system was upgraded. These machines were formerly German, imported from Silesia & are very old, like the history of the mill.

The water wheel used to be here.

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About the author

Tim Firkowski

I have been doing genealogy research since 2002 & have worked full time as a Professional Genealogist since 2008. I specialize in Polish and American-Canadian Genealogy. As a member of APG, I was the 2010/2011 President of the New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (NEAPG). I have Certificates of Completion for studies in "Foundations of Forensic Genealogy" and "Advanced Forensic Genealogy Techniques". I have been a volunteer librarian at the local Family History Center, and a genealogy research consultant at “Ask the Expert” Ancestry Road Shows. I have traveled to Poland numerous times & researched in churches and archives. At conferences and special events, you may find me dressed up in my Sherlock Holmes outfit, or my Kujawy (the folk costume from the region in Poland where my ancestors came from).