What is a “Grist Mill”? This is usually the first question asked when talking about the picturesque wooden structure located forty-five miles north of Portland, Oregon. Grist is the term used for grains that have been separated from the chaff and are ready to be ground into usable products. The Cedar Creek Grist Mill is a small water-powered mill that was built in 1876 to produce flour, cornmeal and animal feed for settlers and U.S. Army personnel living around the Fort Vancouver area. It is the oldest working grinding mill in the state of Washington. Water from the creek flows through a wooden sluice box, into the mill, powering the turbine at an amazing rate of 47 gallons a second.
Since even hard-living settlers and farmers need to relax too, the mill was a favorite location for dances and a place to listen to music. Listed on the register of historical places in the 1960’s, the mill was saved from deterioration and vandals by a non-profit group during the 1980’s. The mill is now a working museum, showing the visitors that come from all over the world how the mill would have looked and operated in 1876. Throughout its history the mill has garnered many remarkable stories including a murder mystery and an association to the infamous D.B. Cooper.
A FARO 330 laser scanner was used to capture the full color data. The scanner was positioned in 30 locations in and around the mill and the adjacent covered bridge. Each scan acquired around 20 million data points thereby creating a detailed 3D pointcloud model. Attention-grabbing fly through videos were created, giving views one would not be able to achieve if standing on-site.
The scan data will be archived by CyArk and made available for educational and historical preservation purposes. More projects with CyArk highlighting important heritage and historical sites around the Pacific Northwest are in development.
Contact Info:
Jerry Dawson
Scanning / 3D Visualizations
CASE Forensics
case4n6.com
jdawson@case4n6.com
