Designed and built by Fred Graue, a German immigrant, together with William Asche, the Old Graue Mill began operating around 1852 and served the village of Brush Hill (Hinsdale) until World War I. Its undershot waterwheel, wooden gearing system, belt power transmission, bucket elevators, and related bolters and sifters were representative of an ancient technology that began with Roman engineer Vitruvius. It ground wheat, corn, oats, and buckwheat in an era that was on the threshold of the Industrial Revolution. During the Civil War, it made syrup from cane and, as late as 1893, had a hydraulic cider press installed. Water power was supplemented by steam power in the early 1870s. The grist mill's restoration in 1950 makes it one of the few survivors of typical mill machinery design, when wood was the principal material used for machine construction. Designated by the ASME Fox Valley Section.