Flour Mills
Buona Pasqua a tutti.
Donna was asking about a particular bread brought back to her from Lucca. I believe it is pan Buccellato, common in the area and very good. Anyone wanting the recipe, just google Buccellato.
The bread brought me back to a bit of history, perhaps of some interest to some of the members. I was curious why such a mountainous place would support so many flour-mills (26) despite the fact that the terrain is too rough for the production of grains. It turns out that given the confluence of the Serchio, Ania & Corsonna river and streams, the farmers from up-valley, in the Alps, used to bring the grain to Barga to be milled into flour. This commerce ended in the 1900, when deforestation in the upper valleys eroded the soil where grain was planted and caused the rivers and streams to run so fast in the spring that they could no longer be controlled by the small dams used by the mills.
The names of the owners of the Mills are names often interlaced with our group members. Perhaps, if you search diligently, you may find that you own a piece of Garfagnana, by a river or stream - like the one shown in the photo with Jacqueline. If you don't want it, I'll take it - ;-)
Below is a listing of names and owners of mills along the Ania & Corsonna rivers in 1870.
Ancora Buona Pasqua a tutti,
Lelio
Mills on the Ania and Corsonna in the years 1870
At that era the Mills listed below were one of the major sources of taxable revenue, probably second only to silk manufacturing and the production of blasting powder. Here's the list of the mills as a PDF for your reference.
| Location-Name | Owner |
|---|---|
| Pianacci | Agostini Michelangelo |
| Camposanto | Caproni Piero |
| S. Cristofano | Giannotti Giuseppe |
| Concia | Cardosi Giuseppe (Manager) |
| Arsenale | Pieroni Giovanni |
| Dell'Anguilla | Cardosi Mazzolini Luigi |
| Dell'Arsenale | Casci Serafino |
| Dell'Orto | Bertacchi Enrico |
| Di S. a Maria | Carrara Dionisio |
| Dei Gasperetti | Dionisio Bernardino in Parternership with a Magli |
| Della Concia with Batticanape | Perpoli Rosa |
| Dell'Agrifoglio | Lorenzino Giovanni |
| Dei Pontecci with Batticanape and wine/olive press. | Lucignani Dionisio |
| Merizzacchio | Serafino Vincenzo |
| Ai Bertoli | Mucci Giuliano |
| Catagnana | Nanni Domenico |
| Dei Menchi | Domenici Giuseppe |
| Di Pedona (Mill for grains & Sulfur for explosives). | Da Prato Domenico |
| Al Ponte all'Ania | Angelo Battastini |
| A Montebuono | Piero Giovanni Battastini |
| Detto Luogo | Pieri Paolo |
| Beltemponero | Tommasi Lorenzo |
| Di Mezzacchio | Racchicioli Lorenzo |
| Della Sega | Santi Salvatore |
| Al Mulinetto (with Batticanape, wine/olive press and raw- wool-washer | Verzani Pietro |
| Del Tamanti | Sacconi Luigi |