In later years some mills were converted into feed mills, but now feed mills too are also disappearing. If we don't find other uses for mills, such as mill museums, art museums, etc., mills will become a thing only of the past. We need watchdog groups interested in old mills, like the grassroots organizations for covered bridges and steam railroads. The teenagers across the country have all ready found mills as abandoned structures as places to recreate in. Tearing a mill down does not solve the teenagers' problems or our cultural problems and we would lose a lot of history in the process.
Mills are important artifacts.
A museum is just a building which contains artifacts. Mills are more, they carry information about history, change, people, and in the process give a better understanding about ourselves. Mills are very costly to restore. What most often happens is a group gets the wrong understanding, once you have put the big bucks into a mill restoration, you never have to do that again. Mills require a lot of attention and maintenance.