The mill was once the center of social activity as Napa Valley settlers gathered to have their corn and wheat ground into meal or flour.

Farmers brought grain to the mill where it was placed into the boot of an elevator to be mechanically transported upstairs where it was cleaned by various types of equipment.

The slow turning of the old grind stones and the dampness of the mill's site gave the meal a special quality for making cornbread, yellowbread, shortening bread and spoonbread.

After William Lyman's death, his wife, the former Mrs. Sarah A. Nowland deeded the property to Native Sons of the Golden West, and through them the mill was restored during a period in the late 1960s and early 1970s through efforts of the Native Son Parlors of Napa County, under the leadership of past Grand President Bismarck Bruck, a grandson of Dr.

In 2011 during the California budget crisis, the mill and adjacent park were among those targeted to be closed due to lack of funding.