The Lower City Mills was designed by John Stewart in 1803 and built on the site of an earlier mill. It is one of three buildings that previously made up Perth's City Mills and is a rare survival of similar mills that once operated in all Scottish burghs from the medieval period until the late 1890s. Following closure in 1968, Perth and Kinross District Council carried out an extensive restoration completed in 1988. This repaired the water-wheel and mill machinery. The building now serves as an area office for VisitScotland.