The historic Johnston Mill Museum in Brundidge was heavily damaged when a car driven by Terrell Gray crashed into the rear of the building around 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Brundidge Police Chief Moses Davenport said Gray, 30, of Lawson Street, Brundidge, has been charged with reckless driving and driving without a license. The car Gray was driving did not belong to him, the chief said.

“Corp. (Larry) Sapp was on Wausau Street and observed a car going onto Pennington Street at a high rate of speed,” Davenport said. “Before he could get there, the driver had crashed into the building.”

Davenport said the airbag deployed and Gray was not seriously injured.

Davenport said Gray was not given a sobriety test.

Lawrence Bowden, president of the Brundidge Historical Society, which owns the building, said he was saddened by the damage that was done to the building.

“The Johnston Mill is listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage,” he said. “It has deep meaning for Brundidge because of it is history in the peanut butter industry. The Johnston Peanut Butter Mill was one of the first peanut butter mills in the Southeast. It began production in 1928 and, at peak production, the mill was churning out two million jars of peanut butter a year.”

The mill helped sustain the Brundidge community during the Great Depression by providing jobs and income and an inexpensive source of protein during those difficult times.

Bowden said the Johnston Mill Museum is a centerpiece for the city’s annual Peanut Butter Festival in October.

“We intend to make the necessary repairs,” he said. “We’re waiting on the damage report and we’ll go from there. But the building is certainly worth saving. It’s part of our history and a part of the history of Pike County and Alabama.”

Bowden said in addition to the damage to building, there was damage to items in the museum, including a switchboard from the “number, please” era and the original scales used to weigh cotton wagons.

“The shelves in the damaged area were well stocked with drugstore-type items purchased at a sale at Landmark Park in Dothan,” he said. “Most of that was lost. We really won’t be able to evaluate the loss until we can get in there and go through everything.”