By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
According to Clifton Mill’s website, the original mill in Clifton, Ohio was built in 1802 by Owen Davis, a Revolutionary War soldier and pioneer miller. The location of the mill was chosen to take advantage of the power of the Little Miami River as it rushed through the gorge. This river powered five other mills that were built nearby: a woolen mill, a saw mill, a paper mill, a barrel mill, and another grist mill. Historic Clifton Mill is the only one still standing.
The mill was rebuilt in 1869 and is seven stories tall. The grounds now include a covered bridge and a 1940’s era gas station museum. At Christmas, there is also a miniature village set up with amazing detail. Trains run around the village, and you can see movie clips playing on the outdoor theater’s screen.
Anthony Satariano Sr., and his son Anthony Jr. bought the mill in 1988. They consulted with mill experts and made improvements to the old mill including repairing floors and walls and reinstalling the original grinding stones. They also installed a replica of the original waterwheel and added the covered porch that now overlooks the waterfall that spills down the hillside into the Little Miami River.
As Christmas approached that first year, they draped 100,000 lights on the cliffs along the river and on the mill. They expected a few hundred visitors at most to come to see the mill, but instead, thousands came.
As the years passed, they added more and more lights. Now they are up to 3.5 million lights which take six men the better part of three months to put up.
In 2004, I stumbled on pictures of the Christmas lights at the mill. Of course, I shared the photos with Joann, and we decided that we had to make a trip to see them. Since the lights are up from the day after Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day, we made plans to go in early December. We crossed our fingers that the weather would be good for our drive.
The universe was with us and the weather was good. We wanted to be at the mill before the gates opened, and we did manage to get there early and get parked and then walked to the gate. Mr. Satariano Sr. was in the ticket booth at the gate and we struck up a conversation.
He asked where we had come from and we told him Wisconsin. He then asked us what brought us to Ohio. When we told him his mill did, he laughed and then asked us, “Seriously, what brings you to Ohio?” Again we told him it was just to see his mill. He seemed impressed that we would come so far.
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Sunday, December 25, 2011
"The Legendary Lights at Clifton Mill"
At 5:00 pm the gates opened and we walked inside in search of the best place to view the mill and the gorge for the lights. Between 5:00 and 6:00 pm, there are a few lights on around the mill. After sizing up the views from many different positions, Joann decided that the best view was through one of the windows on the covered bridge. But that meant that she couldn’t use her tripod. So, she leaned into the window and steadied her camera on the windowsill. Then we waited in the darkness as families crossed the bridge to find a spot on the other side.
Several minutes before 6:00 pm, all of the lights went out leaving everyone in total darkness. Then music began to play and the lights on the covered bridge began to twinkle to the music. As the music ended, all of the lights went out again. Then suddenly, all 3.5 million lights came on all at once, and you could hear the exclamations of awe from the crowd.
Every hour, the mill was plunged into total darkness and the scene was replayed. Even if you were there for the prior hour’s lighting, you were amazed again when the 3.5 million lights came on all at once. It was beautiful and magical. The view down the back of the mill along the gorge was amazing.
The lights are not on during rain or inclement weather and, this year, the mill was dark for several days after heavy rain damaged some of the lights along the gorge. They were quickly replaced and the light show was back on.
We are very happy that we got to meet and chat with Anthony Sr. on our visit. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2008. We look forward to a return trip someday, so we are most grateful that his son, and partner in the mill, Anthony Jr., has continued this Christmas tradition.
“You cannot own history; you can only be the caretaker.” – Anthony Satariano Sr.
Merry Christmas and Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
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Thank you for sharing this adventure in Christmas lights.
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