By Jeff Louderback

CLIFTON, Ohio—With one flip of a switch, 5 million lights transform one of the country’s largest remaining water-powered grist mills into a Christmas-themed haven.

Built along the Little Miami River in 1802, Clifton Mill is a relic from a bygone era. There was a time when 100,000 mills dotted the American landscape. Today, there are fewer than 100. Clifton Mill is believed to be one of the largest that remains in operation, owner Anthony Satariano Jr. told The Epoch Times.

Population 155, Clifton is a 19th-century time capsule. The village has a Civil War shot tower and an opera house. Across the street from the mill is the blacksmith shop and the old stagecoach inn.

The late Anthony Satariano Sr. started the Christmas light display.

Anthony Satariano and his wife, Patricia, were “American pickers” before the antique-hunting reality TV show existed, their son, Anthony Satariano Jr., told The Epoch Times.

The elder Satariano was born and raised in Pittsburgh and climbed the corporate ladder to executive roles in the fragrance industry. He helped Ralph Lauren build the Polo brand.

The family lived in Boston in the mid-1980s, and the elder Satariano longed for a safer and quieter place to raise his family.

“Clifton was a natural fit for my parents because of their love for antiques and nostalgia. Everywhere you look here, there is a reminder of how simple life once was,” Satariano said.

The elder Satariano moved his family to the village in the 1970s. It wasn’t until 1987 that he bought the mill with his son. At the time, the mill was in disrepair. The Satarianos envisioned a destination where families could have breakfast and lunch overlooking the gorge in a place adorned with antiques.

As winter approached that first year, Satariano envisioned the gorge and the mill graced with lights as a family Christmas display. Father and son assembled 100,000 lights, and the showcase attracted residents and curious passersby along state Route 72.

“One night, my father said, ‘We’ve always been a Christmas family, we’ve always decorated the family home. Why not put up some lights along the banks and on the mill?” Satariano recalled.

“People pulled in and said how much they liked the lights, so we started charging a dollar the next year, and more people came. Now, we get several thousand visitors on a busy night,” he said.

Anthony Satariano Jr. stands next to a memorial for his late father, Anthony Satariano Sr., at Clifton Mill in Ohio on Dec. 8, 2025. Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times

“We just kept adding more and more over the years, and the interest kept growing. We never expected it to be more than a family Christmas light display, but it became a tradition for so many other families, and we were inspired to keep adding more features,” he added.

A covered bridge made from reclaimed barn wood spans the Little Miami River on the mill property. The Satarianos added that in the mid-1990s, as a complement to the pioneer cabin, the gas station museum, and the mill. Every half hour, Christmas lights are turned off, and a show of 500,000 flashing lights on the covered bridge, synchronized to music, illuminates the grounds.

“It’s a good complement to the waterfall of twinkling lights,” Satariano said.

Satariano said the idea for the covered bridge light show was hatched when he saw a beer commercial.

“I have 30 controllers, each with 16 channels. The lights are set to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s ‘Carol of the Bells,’” he said.

This marks the first year of the 20-foot-tall tree of lights with 7,000 LED lights. LEDs are more durable and allow more strands to be connected from end to end, Satariano explained.

The electric bill is $2,800 a week during the light display, he noted.

Most of the year, the building that houses Santa’s workshop is an antique gas station decorated with old signs and pumps. During the light display, visitors can look through the windows and see Santa tinkering with toys. On the roof, mechanical reindeer are connected to the sleigh.

Children insist the reindeer are real. In a way, Satariano said, they are.

“My dad and I liked to mingle with customers at the restaurant; we would always ask what brings them to Clifton. One day, two young guys said they were here to meet the local game warden because they created a new deer decoy to catch poachers,” he said.

The decoys are taxidermied deer with moving heads and tails.

Intrigued, the elder Satariano asked to hear more.

“The men told me [and] dad he would likely not be interested because the decoys were meant for game wardens. My dad looked at them and said, ‘We’ll take eight’ for the roof of Santa’s workshop. That was their first order, and it led them to change their business model beyond decoys for game wardens,” Satariano said.

Patricia Satariano, who operated the Santa Claus museum and was passionate about the antique collection, died earlier this year. Satariano expanded the display to 4,000 Santas with help from his wife, Cheryl, and longtime family friends, Harry and Charyl Flaugher.

Over the years, the Santa Claus collection has expanded beyond just the Satariano’s keepsakes.

“This is a repository of many families’ Santas,” Satariano said.

“One time, two elderly women who are sisters handed me a box and started to cry. They explained that their father was a department store Santa back in the 1940s, but nobody now appreciated his Santa suit and photos. So we added that to our Santa display,” he said.

Anthony Satariano Jr. stands next to a photo of his mother, Patricia Satariano, at Clifton Mill’s Santa Claus museum in Ohio on Dec. 8, 2025. Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times

Owen Davis, a Revolutionary War veteran, built the first mill on the site in 1802. Davis and his son-in-law, General Benjamin Whiteman, added a saw mill and a distillery. The village of Davis Mills was born.

Powered by the whitewater that funnels into Clifton Gorge, five other mills were once active along the Little Miami River. Scenic overlooks on a trail that winds through what is now a nature preserve show where the structures were anchored. Clifton Mill is the only building that remains.

Around 1810, Davis sold the mill to Robert Patterson, a Revolutionary War veteran who helped found the cities of Lexington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati before settling in Dayton, Ohio. Patterson changed the village’s name to Clifton, and the mill provided grain for troops during the War of 1812.

The current mill is the third building on the site. The other two were destroyed by fire in the 19th century.

In 1869, the owners added turbines, a new technology at the time that made the water wheel obsolete.

In the early 1900s, a generator was added to the mill, providing electricity for many homes in Clifton and nearby towns.

The walls of the mill’s restaurant are decorated with antiques from the late Anthony Satariano’s adventures. A collection of more than 300 flour bags from mills across the country is showcased.

“When I was a kid, my dad would load us in the car and go on antique-finding trips to off-the-beaten-path towns. He would walk up to an interesting barn, country store, or other building and tell the owner, ‘I’ll give you $50 to let me take a look inside.‘ That was long before shows like ’American Pickers,’ and years before there was a fascination with antiques,” Satariano said.

“He would offer the owner $100 for an hour inside and whatever he could fit in his car. That’s how we accumulated much of what we have,” Satariano recalled. “My job was to crawl underneath the porches. I’d find all sorts of treasures, like old bottles and signs.”

A covered bridge is adorned with Christmas lights at Clifton Mill in Ohio on Dec. 8, 2025. Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times

Satariano has kept his parents’ love for Christmas alive through his interest in helping create traditions for other families, he said.

“People are happy when they are here, no matter how old they are. This is a beautiful place year-round. It is even more magical this time of year with the lights, the Christmas ambiance, the mill, and the gorge. You can travel all around the country and not find something quite like this,” Satariano said.

Each night, a local celebrity or resident is invited to flip the switch that turns on the lights at 6 p.m. Satariano especially likes the nights when patient ambassadors from Dayton Children’s Medical Center have that honor.

“Now, multiple generations have been coming to the light display every year. They came here as children, and now they are bringing their grandchildren,” Satariano said.

The miniature village is a popular attraction during the Christmas lights display at Clifton Mill in Ohio on Dec. 8, 2025. Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times

Just after Labor Day, Satariano and his team begin installing the lights.

“A core group of five guys have been with me for a long time, and they help with the setup. Each of us has our own specialty. We usually replace 3,000 to 5,000 strands each year,” he said.

When the light display season ends on Dec. 31, Satariano told The Epoch Times he “hibernates” for a few weeks, and then the team starts taking down the lights and storing them for the next season.

When Satariano scans the grounds where the mill sits, he sees his childhood.

“All of this—everything you see, from the miniature village and the Santa Claus room to the lights and the antiques on the walls—represents a big part of my life,” he said.

“It’s a privilege to keep my parents’ legacies alive.”