Lost Mill Sites [Periodically as time permits additional site are added] Modified and updated 01/20/2021
Small rural towns in eastern Connecticut, like most rural towns in New England, developed around the waterways that could be harnessed to provide power to operate the mills. Early mills included: saw mills used to cut timber into usable building materials; grist mills to grind agricultural products for food preparation; bone and clover mills to produce fertilizer; silk, woolen and cotton mills to manufacture clothing and process cloth products; machine mills to manufacture tools and implements for both home and commercial purposes; and power mills to generate electricity. A number of other specialty mills, such as button shops, also existed whenever water power could simplify the manufacturing process.
The sources of power required for these tasks in the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s was the energy in falling water provided by rivers, streams and brooks that could turn a waterwheel. Mills were constructed in key locations along the waterways where topographic and geographic conditions were favorable. The size and complexity of many of the mills was dependent upon local topographic and watershed conditions – size of the watershed, stream flow characteristics, changes in elevation, a site that was adaptable for creation of an impoundment to hold water in storage, and of course a mill site. The larger the scale of each component, the larger and more productive a mill could be and the more important its role was in terms of the local economy.
Rural towns in Connecticut had its unique set of operational problems. Adequate supplies of water were not always available so water resources had to be managed to assure adequate power when needed. Oftentimes the mills could only be used seasonally so these were often the first to fail. When necessary many of the mills used multiple waterway to assure an adequate supply of water or multiple dams to increase water in storage.
Mills relied on waterwheels that converted the energy in falling water to mechanical energy used to operate machinery. The most common wheel configurations used in the early mills in Connecticut were the overshot, undershot, and breastshot wheels. In the mid 1800s many of the existing mills converted to the more efficient turbine power and most of the new mills of that time period used the turbine, commonly referred to as the iron wheel.
The overshot wheel received water at the top of the wheel. The undershot wheel relied on the flow of water in the stream receiving water at the bottom of the wheel. The breastshot wheel received its water generally near the mid-point of the wheel. The pitchback wheel, not very common in Connecticut, received water at the top of the wheel but operated in a reverse direction of the overshot wheel. The turbine, with many improvements in its design over the years, became the more powerful and preferred type of wheel.
The mills identified are the result of site evaluation work in Tolland County towns over the last 17 years. Much of evaluation work to date has been concentrated in the Tolland, Willington, Union, Coventry, Hebron, Rockville/Vernon, Hebron, Ellington, and Mansfield, Connecticut. Results of these site evaluations are summarized in books for the first seven of the towns noted above as part of the Lost Mill Sites series of books for Tolland, County towns.
In addition to the mills in Tolland County towns, a number of mill sites in abutting towns were analyzed during the site evaluation process. Many of the old sites found and evaluated lack both physical evidence plus connecting history. For some sites the information has been obscured over the years while others have become well documented. Many of the old mill sites can only be recognized by those with a trained eye.
For more detailed information on the sites, use the “Contact Me” section above or contact the author, Richard N. Symonds, Jr., 92 Torry Rd., Tolland, CT 06084, telephone (860) 875-5002, or e-mail [email protected]. For published reports contact the historical society in the towns where books have been completed. A glimpse of some of the mill sites evaluated in Tolland County towns follows. As time permits, additional sites will be added. Please revisit this site for additional mill sites and updates.
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Small rural towns in eastern Connecticut, like most rural towns in New England, developed around the waterways that could be harnessed to provide power to operate the mills. Early mills included: saw mills used to cut timber into usable building materials; grist mills to grind agricultural products for food preparation; bone and clover mills to produce fertilizer; silk, woolen and cotton mills to manufacture clothing and process cloth products; machine mills to manufacture tools and implements for both home and commercial purposes; and power mills to generate electricity. A number of other specialty mills, such as button shops, also existed whenever water power could simplify the manufacturing process.
The sources of power required for these tasks in the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s was the energy in falling water provided by rivers, streams and brooks that could turn a waterwheel. Mills were constructed in key locations along the waterways where topographic and geographic conditions were favorable. The size and complexity of many of the mills was dependent upon local topographic and watershed conditions – size of the watershed, stream flow characteristics, changes in elevation, a site that was adaptable for creation of an impoundment to hold water in storage, and of course a mill site. The larger the scale of each component, the larger and more productive a mill could be and the more important its role was in terms of the local economy.
Rural towns in Connecticut had its unique set of operational problems. Adequate supplies of water were not always available so water resources had to be managed to assure adequate power when needed. Oftentimes the mills could only be used seasonally so these were often the first to fail. When necessary many of the mills used multiple waterway to assure an adequate supply of water or multiple dams to increase water in storage.
Mills relied on waterwheels that converted the energy in falling water to mechanical energy used to operate machinery. The most common wheel configurations used in the early mills in Connecticut were the overshot, undershot, and breastshot wheels. In the mid 1800s many of the existing mills converted to the more efficient turbine power and most of the new mills of that time period used the turbine, commonly referred to as the iron wheel.
The overshot wheel received water at the top of the wheel. The undershot wheel relied on the flow of water in the stream receiving water at the bottom of the wheel. The breastshot wheel received its water generally near the mid-point of the wheel. The pitchback wheel, not very common in Connecticut, received water at the top of the wheel but operated in a reverse direction of the overshot wheel. The turbine, with many improvements in its design over the years, became the more powerful and preferred type of wheel.
The mills identified are the result of site evaluation work in Tolland County towns over the last 17 years. Much of evaluation work to date has been concentrated in the Tolland, Willington, Union, Coventry, Hebron, Rockville/Vernon, Hebron, Ellington, and Mansfield, Connecticut. Results of these site evaluations are summarized in books for the first seven of the towns noted above as part of the Lost Mill Sites series of books for Tolland, County towns.
In addition to the mills in Tolland County towns, a number of mill sites in abutting towns were analyzed during the site evaluation process. Many of the old sites found and evaluated lack both physical evidence plus connecting history. For some sites the information has been obscured over the years while others have become well documented. Many of the old mill sites can only be recognized by those with a trained eye.
For more detailed information on the sites, use the “Contact Me” section above or contact the author, Richard N. Symonds, Jr., 92 Torry Rd., Tolland, CT 06084, telephone (860) 875-5002, or e-mail [email protected]. For published reports contact the historical society in the towns where books have been completed. A glimpse of some of the mill sites evaluated in Tolland County towns follows. As time permits, additional sites will be added. Please revisit this site for additional mill sites and updates.
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