Motor Mill Foundation remembers the visionary Jon deNeui

By Willis Patenaude

Over the summer, the Motor Mill Foundation honored Jon deNeui with a plaque at the Motor Mill Bridge, celebrating his time, talents and successful efforts in getting the bridge replaced in 2012. An early member of the foundation, Jon passed away in December 2023, and while the foundation posted that his “hearty laugh and rumbling baritone voice will be greatly missed by those at Motor Mill,” his impact and legacy can still be seen, felt and driven across. 

While the story of Jon doesn’t begin and end with the bridge at Motor Mill, that project encompasses a portion of it. Among the projects he’s had a hand in, it is easily the most recognizable. Bridges, it appears, hold a special place in the hearts of the people of Clayton County, and the Motor Mill bridge is no different. 

Built in 1899, the bridge survived for 93 years until floodwaters took out the southern span in 1991. From that point, the northern span was just a piece of history to look at while you floated down the Turkey River or hiked through the area. That is, until Jon retired in Clayton County and needed a new project to work on. Between 2004 and 2012, the old bridge was never far from his mind and, to tell this story took time, research and digging into the memories of people who were there.  

One person who was there and remembered is Larry Stone, a founding member of the Motor Mill Foundation. Larry remembers Jon always “had a lot of ideas,” and was interested in history. This included the “unique bridge” that spanned the Turkey River, and he recognized that it needed to be restored. 

In the early 2000s, Larry recalled Jon lightly prodding the Conservation Board into doing more to preserve the historical treasure, something Jon had done previously, having been heavily involved with projects in the Amana Colonies, using his expertise to work on barns and other historic buildings. 

Larry also remembers there was an interest in construction and history, and how both of those things often intertwine, leading him to get involved with the “neat old bridge,” as Jon used to call it. Jon also believed it had to be reconstructed, but since it was on the National Register, and with half the bridge washed away by the flood, the remaining half on the north side could not be torn down. 

Instead, whatever new project was likely to arise would need to be built in a way that preserved that half of the bridge. But then fate, or bad luck, depending on your interpretation, intervened in 2008. Another flood washed out the north half, leaving nothing but an empty hole where history once stood. At that point, they needed a new bridge.

The idea for a new bridge was to make it a replica, but much stronger. According to Larry’s memory, Jon was involved in numerous discussions about how the bridge should be constructed. One thing that stood out about those discussions was Jon’s insistence that it be raised up high enough to avoid another flood, but also with a modern connection system that would replace the old pinned connections that could lead to what’s known as “critical fracture.” If any part of the bridge failed, the whole thing would fall down. 

While John had a sizeable hand in the bridge, it was some of his other efforts that Larry remembers most, like his work on the Motor Mill roof, repairing a peak that separated, or how he devised a contraption to help replace the wood frames at the top of the mill without needing a crane, and searched for Southern Yellow Pine floorboards to match the original ones in the mill. 

Though Jon didn’t find the exact thing he was looking for, he found Southern Yellow Pine fencing boards, and arranged for a truckload from Mississippi to be shipped to Clayton County, where he and a few friends turned them into matching floorboards. 

Larry fondly remembers Jon as being a teacher. Even as his health started to fail in later years and he could no longer physically do the work, Jon was still on site, supervising volunteers and leading them like a teacher in a classroom. Even Larry acknowledged he “learned a lot” from Jon. 

One example—a small, but memorable, thing—was when Jon showed him how to make brackets to hold the signs the Motor Mill would put up every weekend to let people know they were open for tours. 

As Larry told the story, there isn’t a building down by Motor Mill that doesn’t have his “fingerprints on it.” He had a “love of history,” and never shied away from donating his time, ideas and—a humorous aside those who know will understand—his tools. 

When it comes to the plaque and recognition, Larry, who was involved in the decision, believes it is a deserving honor for someone who had “done so much” for the bridge and Motor Mill.

Former Clayton County Conservation Board Director Tim Engelhardt remembers first meeting Jon around 2002, when he stopped by Tim’s office. Having just moved to the area, Jon talked about his construction and teaching background and “offered to help with projects in any way he could,” Tim said. It was a few short days after that when Jon returned to Tim’s office to let him know he had found his first project: the Motor Mill. 

“I think the most important contribution Jon deNeui has given the Motor Mill Historic Site is a dream. Jon had the ability to dream big. Furthermore, he could come up with some very big ideas and then walk everyone through the steps and inject belief into everyone,” Tim said. 

Through his extensive connections throughout the United States, Jon was able to “pick the brain of the experts,” as Tim put it, in his pursuit of research on historic structures, stone work, historic bridges, restoration and countless other topics relating to Motor Mill. This research led to projects like the beam system, flooring, windows and silt removal from the basement and the bridge. 

“He was then able to just start talking about projects and how to do it until the Motor Mill Foundation membership believed it and the jobs were funded and completed,” Tim said. 

In the memories of Jon’s daughter, Julie Wolfe, after her father retired in Clayton County in 2002, he saw the bridge and  the history and had a vision. As Julie described events, Jon attended a Motor Mill meeting, and it was said that there was no money and, even still, fixing the bridge couldn’t be done. 

According to Julie, when her father would hear something couldn’t be done, he would try to do it. The first thing he did was research it. Then he met with engineers and looked for funding, throughout the process donating his time, direction and experience to get it done. 

Julie also remembered the comic aside about the tools and a tool return box, but it’s likely a story you had to be there for to appreciate. 

When the decision was made to honor Jon with a plaque and small ceremony on the bridge that likely wouldn’t have been built without his knowledge and persistence, there was a bit of surprise. But there was also a heartfelt moment, and it brought tears to Julie’s eyes. 

“He put his heart into that project and the community,” Julie said. 

In fact, Jon put so much of himself into Motor Mill projects that he often didn’t finish personal projects. As Julie said, Jon felt “responsible for it and took it to heart.” 

Jon was vice president of the Motor Mill Foundation from 2006 to 2019 and, according to the Motor Mill remembrance page, was considered a “visionary,” while adding that much of the restoration projects at the site were the result of his amazing visioning, plans and direction. Two of his biggest achievements include closing the huge gap in the peak of the roof and the new bridge that was finished in 2012. 

Although Jon passed away in December 2023 and others are now needed to tell his story, if you research the way Jon did, you will come across an interview he did in 2013 with the Bridge Hunter’s Chronicles. He talks about his motivations and the process. 

It was in 2004 when Jon became involved with the Motor Mil. The initial motivation for fixing the bridge appears to be making the Mill more accessible for visitors, but with half a bridge, you can’t exactly cross a river in your Equinox. 

In the early stages, Jon sourced everything locally, from masonry contractors, bridge erectors, steel fabricators and truckers, and heavily relied on volunteers. By early 2008, everything was set in motion to construct a replica of the old steel truss bridge, while leaving the still standing north side span as an exhibit. 

Of course, all that changed in 2008 with the flood, but that wasn’t the only thing that changed. After the flood, the project received funding through the REAP grant, and the work of volunteers was replaced by a professional team of engineers and contractors, who worked to create a nearly identical replica of the original bridge, which was finished and opened to traffic on Dec. 8, 2012. 

In the interview, Jon recalled the shifting opinions of the public’s response to the project, ebbing from “I’ll believe it when I see it,” to “It’ll never get off the ground,” before finally becoming “hopeful and wistful about their memories of the old bridge.” 

While the replica looked like the old one, at the time, Jon admitted he was still “working on getting accustomed to the variations.” But he also noted it “is a good, strong and serviceable structure [that] the public has visited and is happy with the results.” 

In May 2013, the foundation held a grand opening gala which was attended by 250 people, who all celebrated and honored the work and achievement of Jon. Today, when visitors walk across the bridge, they will walk past a plaque that also celebrates that work and legacy, and everything Jon meant to Motor Mill.