Hickman's Mills was a settlement near Blue Ridge in Jackson County, marking an early point in the Young family’s history and leaving a material trace in the farm buildings that later defined their homeplace. The account places it within the region’s agricultural landscape, linking the settlement to both the family’s land claim and the reuse of timber from its old mill.

Setting and the Youngs’ Land Claim

In 1844, Solomon Young and Harriet Louisa Young made a claim to public land on high ground near the Blue River, approximately sixteen miles south of Independence and near the settlement of Hickman's Mills. The site, called Blue Ridge, offered fertile, well-drained ground suitable for grazing and for growing corn and wheat. Their initial claim covered eighty acres, the minimum purchase under the Land Act; Solomon paid $1.25 an acre and had to occupy the land to secure title.

The move followed the Youngs’ earlier start on a farm called the Parrish place, near the Missouri River and within the projected outlines of Kansas City. The account suggests that the severe 1844 flood may have contributed to their decision to claim higher ground, while leaving the cause uncertain. Hickman's Mills thus enters the family story as a nearby settlement in a landscape shaped by both agricultural opportunity and environmental hardship.

A Trace in the Blue Ridge Homeplace

The Youngs’ holdings grew over time, and Blue Ridge became their homeplace. In 1868, when the family resettled there in a larger house, their farm comprised about 600 acres. Behind the house and orchard stood a large red barn built from heavy walnut planks and beams taken from the old original mill at Hickman's Mills. The mill’s timber was therefore incorporated into the architecture of the family farm, connecting the settlement to the later household even as the account describes the mill as old.

Place in the Narrative

Hickman's Mills is presented through its relationship to the surrounding countryside and to the Young family rather than through a separate account of the settlement’s development. Its importance rests on two concrete links: its proximity to the Youngs’ first Blue Ridge claim and the old mill’s timber, reused in the barn at their later homeplace. Together, these details make the settlement a local landmark in the story of the family’s move, expansion, and establishment on Blue Ridge.