The Legacy of J. T. John Mill
Coming Together to Preserve the Past
Hurricane Matthew did a number on the J. T. John Mill in 2016, and though its loving stewards tried to shore it up, Florence and Dorian took too high of a toll on its underlying structure. Through their partnership with Legacy Architectural Salvage, the mill’s history lives on.

Got a big project?
We’d love to help.
If you have a major salvage donation requiring deconstruction—think staircases or whole houses, pre-demolition—we may be able to send our volunteer deconstruction team to skillfully remove those materials.
Contact Deb Helms, Manager, Legacy Architectural Salvage:
salvage@historicwilmington.org
910.338.6443
- Volunteers (left to right): Steve, Roman, Judy, Don, Tom John (owner), John, Jim and Laura
- Deb Helms, Manager of Legacy Architectural Salvage Manager, with Don, her husband (and LAS volunteer!)
Since the deconstruction took two full days, they even fed and housed our team of seven volunteers overnight in their family cabin, located in Laurinburg, NC. They also supplied a backhoe, which gave our crew the ability to salvage materials which could not have been handled manually.
- Tom teaches Laura the mechanics of the mill stone
- bbb
Our team brought back many treasures: barn doors, corrugated tin and the wooden wheel that encased the grist millstone. It’s remarkable to find wide planks of old-growth wood, and thanks to the generosity of Helen and Tom, we are now stocked with a solid haul, including many 1″x10″ and 2″x10″ beams! Now back at the LAS workshop, the salvaged wood can be used to make farm tables, benches and floating shelves.
When Legacy re-opens (scheduled for Wednesday, April 1), be sure to stop in—these gorgeous and rare pieces of history will get picked up quick!
Many Hands (and Tools!) Make Light Work
Below is a list of our tool needs. For more information on tool donations, CLICK HERE.
- metal ladders
- sawhorse brackets
- crowbars (36-inch and 42-inch)
- wrecking bars (42-inch)
- hammers
- flat bars
- nail pullers
- die grind wheels
- glue guns
- new saw blades (12-, 10- and 7-inch)
- drill bits (wood and steel)
- large clamps
- flashlights
- battery-operated lights
- chainsaw blades
- dollies
- screw guns
- skill saw
- orbital sander
- panel cart
- bottle jack
- 5/16th-inch cable with hooks
- 5/16th-inch, Grade 30 chain with I/grab hooks

Roman & Steve use the backhoe, provided by Helen & Tom, to load up the LAS trailer