13 Things About Sweetwater Creek State Park

I have to wonder how many of us living inDouglas County have actually ventured onto the grounds of Sweetwater Creek State Park. 

I’m ashamed to admit I have never sat at a picnic table, never hiked a trail, never visited the Manchester Mill ruins or attended a festival there or any other type of event.   

Twenty years ago I did visit the park a few times with my son to feed the ducks, and we were on the lake a couple of times in my husband’s bass boat, but other than that my participation with Sweetwater Creek State Park has been close to nil. 

Mrs. Synthia's Recollections

One year ago when I mentioned to friends I would be writing a local history column, I had a few people who immediately said, “Oh, you are going to write about the mill at Sweetwater, aren’t you?”

It is a foregone conclusion, isn’t it?  

The New Manchester Mill is one of our most historic sites, and there is a bit of mystery concerning the millworkers who were carried off by Union troops, but I quickly answered that since it was such an expected topic, I would wait and choose other bits of history that aren’t so well known. 

So far, I have stuck to that plan, but today I’m going to mention the mill because I’ve stumbled over an interesting story regarding one of the families who lived at New Manchester and what happened to them after the war.