On Oct. 28, Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett joined members of the Parker family, descendants of mill owner Alfred Buffat, to unveil a historical marker at Spring Place Park. The marker commemorates a grindstone from the original Buffat Mill that once stood near the park on Loves Creek.

According to Alfred Buffat’s memoirs, some of which can be found at the East Tennessee History Center, the mill at one time was the largest gristmill south of the Ohio River.

The Parker family donated the land for the park to Knox County in 1976 and the mill stone in 2014.