This post was originally published April 28, 2008.
I remember the day in my high school years when they closed Lassiter Mill bridge. It was old time rickety but somehow made it to modern Raleigh – the 1970s- before being closed and then destroyed. I had conscientiously driven my 68 VW carefully over the twin tracks several times, fully aware I was testing out a soon-to-be piece of history. The iron on the right is part of the original bridge structure – iron and wood, and a thing of beauty it was. That bridge gave off an air of classic American architecture of a century past, and was fun to drive across as well, following old Lassiter Mill Road off of the new one.
***********
The site was originally called the “Great Falls of Crabtree” and was used by succesive mills starting about 1780, a decade before Raleigh’s creation. Cornelius Lassiter purchased it in 1908 and built two 40-horse turbine wheels to mill grain and lumber. It burned in 1959, but the family continued to make use of the property until current times.
Well-heeled homes now surround the entire site, but the area south of dam and lower pool, and downstream to (the new) Lassiter Mill Road, constitutes a small city park. There are picnic tables, a canoe put-in, and truly fine fishing – I have watched fly fisherman work below and above the dam many times. This is the spot where the city animal control folks bring misplaced snapping turtles for release – I’ve seen them wrestle some real monsters out of their truck. The fishing is also perfect for young ones, as my own can attest. Dorian’s first small-mouth bass came from just below the tailrace, and he had the enormous satisfaction, not only of helping to clean, cook, and eat it, but make his sister sick to her stomach as well. Below is his lucky fishing hole.
You can also put a boat in very easily just off the cul-de-sac, and paddle your way as far upstream toward Crabtree Valley as the downed trees and water levels will let you. The deep water above the dam is like a linear lake right through the backyards of million dollar homes. As the water get shallower, you start to see some really nice slate deposits on the banks and realize you have climbed out of East Raleigh’s muddy ditch sections of Crabtree and gotten into some cool Raleigh Belt geology. This reminds us that Lassiter Mill literally and precisely marks the Fall Line in central Raleigh. I’ll run pictures of that trip this summer.
This is the deep water above the dam. Dams like Lassiter Mill present a problem for migrating fish and the mussels dependent on them for reproduction (a long story we’ll get into sometime). Someday we may make an ecological choice to remove the dam. I will miss the easy canoe trip, but I understand the value of unencumbered stretches of water. Amazing to think of all the gristmills (and dams) that used to dot the Raleigh area – road names alone give you some idea – Lassiter, Edwards, Yates, Ligon, etc. A future gem of a post will explore the remains of the small mill still visible in Fallon Park. We used to live closer to nature – but we also exploited nature in ways we have given up.
Very interesting the history that you have given. My brother, 2 sisters and I visited here last weekend. My brother recalled that our Grandfather, Rayford Creech once ran the Grist mill there in the 40’s. It was a nostalgic trip for all of us for sure. We also visited “Smokey Hollow”, Johnson St and surronding areas. My siblings went to the schools in that area, Lewis and Broughton. We had a wonderful time reminiscing! September 29, 2008
Comment by Ruth Creech Grant — September 30, 2008 @ 1:55 am
I’m a little late to the party here, but thanks for this excellent background information on Lassiter Mill. Being an amateur photographer, I’m always looking for new subjects for my camera. I’ve taken a lot of photographs at Yates Mill, and I think maybe I’m going to work on a series of the different mill sites around Raleigh…at least what is left of them. Thanks again for a great post.
Comment by Tarheel Rambler — January 9, 2009 @ 3:03 pm
Comments brought forward from old site:
April 29, 2008
I jumped off the top of that bridge many times!
Also good to have a moment of silence for a teenager who drowned there after Fran and whose family is responsible for the plaque.
Let me know when you want to paddle upstream. I’ve got two solo canoes that haven’t seen water in quite a while. Maybe in the late afternoon with the longer days.
Jack in the pulpit’s are blooming in the woods BTW. Katie
May 12, 2008
Back in the late 60’s I recall the jumps and dives from the top of the iron. The metal was hot and some how encouraged you to make your leap. The cars passing below would shake the bridge and you would wonder if you were going to fall. Also, we used to go behind the falls and climb up into the discharge ‘cave’ behind the fall itself. The things boys do… Dan
Comment by raleighnaturalist — January 11, 2009 @ 10:17 pm
Lassiter Mill was indeed a special place for me. As an adventuresome 7 yr old boy in 1969 for around a
a decade I watched the natural beauty and old style feeling gradually disappear into suburbia. I fished
every inch of that place over lazy carefree summers. The shad runs there were incredible. The place was
just boiling with life.There was a monster largemouth that several of us hooked but no way of ever landing
with all the under-water obstacles and its strength. Many catfish too. Jumping from the bridge above the dam
was fun and can never forget the cool dark damp hidden rooms under the water fall as an escape on sweltering
summer days.
Comment by Alan — March 11, 2009 @ 5:02 am
[...] intense (and impervious) areas of commercial development before finding Kiwanis Park and then Lassiter Mill. Above the dam is a heavily wooded stretch that skirts Crabtree Valley Mall and climbs up to [...]
Pingback by Raleigh Public Record » Featured The Natural View » Raleigh’s Greenway Outlook — May 11, 2009 @ 6:40 pm
I also spent many an hour jumping off the rail by the roadbed and climbing up to the top of the old bridge for a jump. The water was only 7-8′ deep so feet plunging into the mud on the bottom was standard procedure.
For a time there was a cable across the bottom of the millrace, enabling us to grab on and get back on top of the lower race wall after sliding down the race on our backsides. It was a fairly rough millrace surface, so some runoff current was required to push you down the race.
If I’m not mistaken, the bridge itself was moved to the Lassiter Mill location to replace an older structure. It had previously served as a bridge over the Neuse, I believe way up in northwesternmost Wake County at Boyce Mill, so I believe it was the Boyce Mill Bridge at one point. That crossing is now flooded by Falls Lake.
Foy Beal
Raleigh
Comment by Foy Beal — July 8, 2009 @ 4:01 pm