This mill was owned for many generations by the Boll family. The water wheel was six meters (18 feet) high. The gypsum came from the nearby town of Schleitheim and was hauled first by a wagon with six horses, and then later by streetcars. When the material was unloaded in front of the mill, it was first burned in kilns seven feet high; the heavy smoke rose from many holes because it was impossible to build a chimney. The next process was to break the burned gypsum up into small pieces, and then to transfer it into the mill.