by Deane Rykerson
TMI President

“Merchant and Millwright, the Water Powered Mills of the Piscataqua” by Richard Candee is a fascinating article about the economy of early New England published in 1970. Although rarely differentiating between stream and tidal mills, the text explains how the resources of timber and water power were integral to the earliest European settlements.

From the first mill (1633-1634) contracted by John Mason on the Little Newichwannok River (presently South Berwick), sawing lumber was a primary activity. Several English maps included show the number of water powered mills before 1700 in the region. Although it is commonly believed that New England wood resources were mostly for ships’ masts, Candee shows that sawn lumber was also an important export.

Continue reading “Sawmills and the Economy of Early New England” →

By Deane Rykerson
TMI President

Tide mills had all the functions that stream mills did, from cutting lumber to milling flour. But did you ever wonder why gristmills are so much more vertical than sawmills? There is often a roof monitor or cupola in a gristmill. Well, form follows function and gravity is an important part of the function of grinding grain. If we follow a kernel of wheat from harvesting to being ready for bread, we can see how important height can be to aid the milling process. What goes up must come down.

At the top of the mill there is storage for the grain, fed by a hopper. The grain then descends to a screening process that shakes and sifts to remove gravel and sticks from the food product. At the next lower level the clean kernels are fed between the grinding stones, gradually working outward on the grooves of the bedstone. A rotating screened tube, called a bolter, can then be used to separate the coarser meal from the finer flour.

Continue reading “Grist Mills and Gravity” →