BEDFORD, Mich (July 9, 2014)- The over 150 year old Bedford Mill along M-37 in Calhoun County stood the test of time, until Tuesday night when it burned to the ground.
“It’s part of our history and it’s so sad it’s gone,” said Robin Arnold who spent the better part of her childhood at the mill.
For Robin Arnold this is more than just history it’s where she the first eleven years of her life with her grandparents.
“The mill was built in 1855 and I was born in 1955. So the building was over a hundred years old when I came to visit my grandparents here. So it’s sad that the history here is gone,” she said.
She says the memories of their house were still so vivid.
“There was a large kitchen on the back side to overlook the park and my grandfather had a small room to the front and right of the pot belly stove where he chewed his tobacco red vans for that matter,” she said.
She was hoping there would be something left for her to take home as a memento to remind her of her grandparents.
“I would love to have a piece of it.” she said.
Sadly there was almost nothing left that hadn’t been burned to ash. A boy Robin had never met before, was also at the former mill seeing how much damage was done. They started talking about their experiences there.
“I went inside to help the owner because people would go in there and cause trouble pretty much and I had seen these and I thought they were pretty cool and he asked me if I wanted them,” Tyler Hill said.
Tyler Hill didn’t think they were worth much, but he liked them just the same.
“It’s crazy to think that nobody really has anything out of the mill and I still have these,” he said.
When Tyler realized Robin’s grandparents had lived in the mill, he knew exactly what to do.
“It’s part of your history, it’s part of your family. I wanted to help her out,” he said.
Tyler had several ceramic decorations that said the old mill’s name with an engraved ‘150 years’. He gave two of them to her.
“The mill may not be here, but I’m still holding a part of it’s history and can pass it down through my family,” said Robin.
