The dam is gone. The pond is drained.

An old snapping turtle lives in the murky water of the former millrace.

The gears and pulleys and belts are silent.

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The former Tritts Mill at Massillon and Mayfair roads in Springfield Township is one of the oldest buildings in Summit County. In fact, it’s older than the county itself. 

Built in 1836, the mill operated for more than 160 years. It was the home of Lee Higy’s Hardware for most of the 20th century. Now the Tritts-Higy Mill belongs to a local couple with big dreams.

Alanna Barker Overholt, 45, and her husband, Scott Overholt, 46, bought the wood-frame building in March 2021 and have been busy cleaning and repairing it. They’ve opened an antiques store in the mill and plan eventually to move her softball pitching academy and his strength training business into an adjacent 1960 pole barn.

It’s a work in progress. And, boy, there’s a lot of work.

But the Overholts are enthusiastic.

“I just wake up and go every day,” Scott said. “We’re both going to work on this the rest of our lives. If you like what you’re doing, it’s not a job.”

“I feel so blessed,” Alanna said. “My life’s passions are here in one place.”

Connecticut native Stephen Brewster built the mill along the Tuscarawas River when Springfield was a part of Portage County. It wasn’t until 1840 that Ohio legislators carved Summit County out of townships from Portage, Medina and Stark counties.

After Joseph Tritt acquired the property about 1839, it gained its famous moniker. Tritt’s Mill — later spelled Tritts Mill — became such a landmark that the surrounding community took on its name. Even when townsfolk attempted to change it to Chickville, owing to the plenitude of hens on neighboring farms, the popular usage prevailed.

The mill originally was used to grind flour and feed but William Tritt and Austin Tritt added a water-powered cider press and apple butter factory in the early 1890s. 

Joseph Higy bought the mill at 2475 Massillon Road in 1911 and built a dam along the Tuscarawas to create a 3-acre pond. His sons Lee and Charles assumed ownership in 1919, and Lee’s son, Richard, took over in 1960, followed by Terry and Chuck Higy, the fourth generation.

The business specialized in seeds, feeds, fertilizers, farm supplies, paints, garden tools and other hardware. Every fall, mill customers could buy sweet, fresh cider by the glass, gallon or barrel. The apple press produced 17,000 gallons of cider a year.

Alanna Barker Overholt, a Springfield native who grew up down the street, has admired the building all her life.

“Back in the day, this was a meeting place,” she said. “People would come here just to hang out and talk.”

She recalls when her parents, Jim and Pam Barker, who still live in the community, would take her to the store as a girl.

“We had bunnies,” she said. “So we used to get hay here and bunny feed. My dad became friends with the Higys.”

It was the end of an era when the Higy family shut down the mill in 1998 after 164 years of operation. The building’s ownership changed hands a couple of times.

Attorney John Daily bought it in 2008 and remodeled the interior, dividing it into three office suites. In 2010, the Ohio Department of National Resources declared the 100-year-old dam to be unsafe, prompting its removal. The millpond drained and the Tuscarawas River turned into a picturesque waterfall at the site.

Alanna and Scott, who have been married for eight years, live about a half-mile away in a Springfield home built in 1839.

When the mill went on the market, she was intrigued.

“She had mentioned interest in wanting to buy it,” he said.  “I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ ”

They made an offer. He didn’t think they would get it.

“But we have it, so now we have to deal with it,” he said with a laugh.

The Overholts had planned to rent out the mill’s suites, but when they didn’t find any immediate takers, they decided to open Vintage Vibes. It’s open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Alanna operates the shop and goes to estate sales in search of interesting items. An avid gardener, she also sells homegrown succulents and produce, and has spruced up the store’s exterior by planting an eye-catching array of flowers.

The old mill is slowly filling with antiques and collectibles: paintings, books, records, toys, taxidermy animals, you name it. The Overholts bought the entire inventory of Fred Carr’s store, which stood for 43 years in a century home at Route 619 and Massillon Road before getting torn down to make room for a roundabout in Green.

“It was overwhelming,” Alanna said. “Stuff was in boxes and boxes and boxes.”

In addition to gears, pulleys, wooden line shafts and other original components from the mill, the pole barn is packed with architectural salvage from the razed Green store and overflow antiques that are being introduced into the main building.

It’s the kind of stuff that would make the hosts go wild on The History Channel show “American Pickers.”

In fact, she  emailed them after buying the mill.

“They never got back with me,” she sighed.

The barn has to be emptied before it can be expanded. The Overholts plan to turn it into the home of their sports businesses: AB Pitching Academy and SOS Kettlebell.

The couple are renowned in local athletics.

Alanna pitched Springfield High School to four straight Division I state softball titles in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995, posting a career record of 93-3. She won recognition as the Akron Beacon Journal’s Athlete of the Year, gained status as a Fastpitch World High School All-American, earned a scholarship to Ohio University, entered the Summit County Softball Hall of Fame and coached at Muskingum University.

For eight years, she has trained students at her 14,000-square-foot academy on Wedgewood Drive in Ellet Acme Plaza.

Scott was a Division I state champion wrestler for Walsh Jesuit High School in 1994 with 37-1 record and finished as a state runner-up the following year. A member of three national championship teams, he went on to wrestle at Ohio State.

He specializes in strength training for health, fitness and performance. SOS stands for Scott Overholt Strength.

The old mill has proved to be quite a workout. Scott has hauled out piles of debris, cleaned up timber, fixed a flooding problem, added a drain, repaired a door, built a workshop, sorted through mill parts.

“I look forward to it every day,” he said. “Oh, it’s real challenging. There’s always something coming up.”

Reminders of the old mill are everywhere. A belt and pulley system starts in the basement and goes all the way up to the attic. The gear room is frozen in time, a massive assembly of iron wheels, drive shafts, axles and machinery. Wedding parties have stopped to take portraits.

“When you see the bones of the place, they’re still really strong,” Scott said.

And then there’s the sweet aroma. Once a cider mill, always a cider mill.

“It smells apple-ish back here,” Alanna said. “There was a ramp you would walk up and bring your apples. They would press them right in front of you.”

There are holes in the floor for drainage. In the basement, Scott pointed out a blue plastic drum.

“This is a barrel of vinegar that Chuck Higy said he made in the ’80s,” he said with a laugh. “He said it’s super potent and super good. You can smell it. He said it’s good still. I haven’t tried it.”

The Overholts think the mill would make a nice winery someday. Or maybe a coffee beanery. A patio overlooking the river would provide a tranquil setting. 

“That would be awesome,” Alanna said.

But there’s a lot of work to do before then. They are managing everything on their own. It will take years.

“There’s something new every day,” Scott said.

“I’m excited,” Alanna said.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com. For more information, send emails to abpitching@gmail.com.

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