An outstanding example of the functional beauty of nineteenth-century industrial architecture, the wood frame and stone gristmill was constructed by McKean and McGowan to serve the needs of the ironworkers' community in 1840. When Juniata Iron Works closed in 1848, William Shoaff purchased the mill and improved its productivity. His son, Ellis, replaced the wooden waterwheel in 1906 with a steel wheel thirty-one feet in diameter, reputedly one of the largest east of the Mississippi. In continuous operation from 1840 to 1940, the mill retains much of its original equipment and is still used to grind cornmeal and cider apples.