Photo courtesy of Blue Ridge Land and Auction
MONTGOMERY COUNTY- Big Spring Mill in Elliston is up for auction by Blue Ridge Land and Auction, with the on-line auction ending tomorrow.
Big Spring Mill closed its doors in 2022 after 172 years of being a family-owned business and was most known for its seasoned flour, but also produced feed for livestock, baking flour, biscuit mix and other grain products like corn meal.
According to Kaitlyn Harman, Office Manager for United Country Real Estate and Blue Ridge Land & Auction, the company selling the property, the new owner will get more than just the mill and land.
“They have generational recipes, history, and customer lists,” she said. “The new buyer will get all of the Big Spring Mill’s generational recipes, history, customer list and product / brand names too.”
“Big Spring Mill employed several people for multiple years,” she added. “The sellers decided to retire and are looking forward to see what the new buyer does with the property.”
Historically, the property was originally a gristmill built by Joseph Pepper in 1850 but was purchased by Fleetwood Long in 1935 and stayed in the family for about four generations until the mill closed in 2022 and the facilities were updated throughout the decades. With its proximity to the river and the railroad, Big Spring Mill was built in a prime location for a booming grain business. Deliveries used to come in via the railroad with wheat and corn to be milled down to make meal and flour.
Big Spring Mill sits on 1.8 acres in Elliston and still has access to the rail with Norfolk Southern. The flour and corn meal, as well as the feed mill, are operational along with plenty of warehouse storage.
The online auction ends tomorrow, Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025, at 4 p.m. Interested buyers can get complete info. and bid at VAAuctionPro.com. They can also contact Matt Gallimore with United Country – Blue Ridge Land and Auction at 540-239-2585 or Darin Greear with Long and Foster Real Estate at 540-320-5859 for showings or more information.
Staff report
