A Slice of Tennessee History

The Early Years

The history of the property known today as The Inn at Evins Mill actually dates back to 1824, when a Tennessee Land Grant recorded it as Lockhart’s Mill. Since that time, there have been numerous owners of the property – the Lockhart, Lawrence, and Webb families, to name a few.

The Evins Era

The most well known proprietor was the politically prominent Evins family. Edgar Evins was a state senator and successful businessman with a variety of interests, including banking, bussing and oil. He bought the property in 1937 and built the present mill two years later, apparently in conjunction with an emerging business in Lebanon called Martha White.

After only five years, at the end of World War II, Edgar ceased milling operations. While the mill lay dormant for years, the present log lodge that his wife Myrtie built in that same era became a bustling summer retreat for the Evins family – an ideal location in a time before air conditioning.

Mrs. Evins gave the property to her son, Joe L. Evins. Evins, a U.S. Congressman from 1946 to 1976, used the property for family gatherings such as reunions and weddings, and also as a political retreat. He hosted several governors of Tennessee here, including Buford Ellington, Estes Kefauver, and Frank Clement. Evins’s good friends, Albert Gore, Sr. and Albert Gore, Jr., also visited him here on several occasions. Before becoming a senator and later Vice-President, Al Gore Jr. would be elected to the same congressional seat Evins once held.

"The Mill"

In the early 1980s, Joe Evins gave the property to his alma mater, Vanderbilt University. In 1991, Nashville businessman Bill Cochran, of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, acquired the property to use as a retreat for his family and his business. He called it simply "The Mill." The following year, he transformed the gristmill into the conference center it is today and, with the assistance of his wife Anita, significantly renovated the lodge. Their contribution to the lodge’s comfortable ambiance is apparent in the antique furnishings, decorative touches and its overall design scheme.

The Inn at Evins Mill

In early 1994, Bill and his son William formed the Cochran Management Company, which acquired the property and developed it further, most notably with the construction of twelve bluff view rooms and the conversion of its residential kitchen into a commercial one. In October of the same year, Evins Mill opened its doors to the public.

In the summer of 2002, Evins Mill embarked on another round of upgrades and improvements to its facilities and grounds, including the addition of the gristmill game hall and the expansion of its creek side decks. The culmination of this phase of upgrades and the most ambitious project of all was the addition of Manning Overlook and Taylor Hall to the Main Lodge in 2007.

Even as Evins Mill evolves, it remains true to its historic heritage of down-home hospitality – hosting retreats, reunions, weddings and weekend getaways.

The Tennessee State Historical Society placed this historical marker is at the Highway 70 turn-off onto Evins Mill Road. The text is reprinted below.

Evins' Old Mill
1/2 Mi. south on Fall Creek stood a watermill built in 1837 by Daniel Smith, an early Tennessee pioneer. The original mill was destroyed by flood in 1905, and a new one 1000ft. distant was built by J.E. Evins near Carmack Falls, where the river drops more than 1300 ft. The mill decreased operations during World War II, but its site has remained a scenic recreation area.