Hodgson-Aid Mill, Historic grist mill in Ozark County, United States

Hodgson-Aid Mill is a 3+1⁄2-story timber frame grist mill on Bryant Creek near Sycamore, Missouri, clad in red-painted weatherboards. Alva Hodgson completed it around 1897 with roller mills and two Leffel (Francis) steel water turbines to make white patent flour. A man-made mill pond and a limestone barrel vault at the base of the cliff channel water from Hodgson Spring.

William Holeman settled on Bryant Creek in the early 1860s and built a water mill on or near this site; it closed during the Civil War, and it is unclear whether he reopened it or built anew. Holeman ran the mill until his death in 1879. In 1884 Alva Hodgson and his mother Mary Elizabeth bought it for $500, and Hodgson replaced it with a roller mill completed around 1897. The mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

The mill functioned as a meeting place where farmers gathered to grind grain and exchange news with neighbors. Beyond milling, the site hosted a general store and post office, making it a hub of community activity.

The mill is located in a rural setting along a creek, so wear appropriate footwear for unpaved paths when visiting. The location allows you to observe how the flowing water powered the entire operation.

Alva Hodgson installed two millstones, or buhrstones, imported from the French Pyrenees to grind flour, and added a dynamo that generated electricity to light the mill. Despite failing vision he helped run the mill until his death in 1921.