Tide Mills Are Where You Find Them

How a possible 18th century tide mill site was recently discovered in Connecticut

Site of likely tide mill remains at Ox Pasture in Old Saybrook, Conn. With no obvious signs of human activity on this serene tidal creek, it’s easy to see why the supected tide mill ruins here went unnoticed until Mark Borton’s 2026 investigation.

“Gold is where you find it” was how prospectors responded when asked where to seek the precious metal during California’s 1849 Gold Rush. They were saying gold could be anywhere – but you had to look for it. The same could apply to finding old tide mill sites, and that’s the core message in a tide mill hunting lesson by Mark Borton, a seasoned discoverer of tide mills, independent historian, and author. Mark often travels from his home in Connecticut to Maine, Nova Scotia, and other places to investigate possible tide mill sites, but his latest find is a shorter drive: Old Saybrook, Conn.

In this drone photograph, Mark Borton points to timbers and other evidence of a structure – possibly a tide mill – he discovered in the creek at Ox Pasture.

It all started with general windmill research for another project, which revealed the existence of a 1636 windmill in Old Saybrook. He couldn’t resist going there to see a millstone from that windmill and visit the town’s historical society to search for more information about it. There he discovered that Old Saybrook has 10 historic mill sites, including two tide mills. One was at the Ox Pasture dam and the other at Oyster River bridge.

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Association Offers Marine Energy Development Information

The National Hydropower Association’s Marine Energy Council has just refreshed their website with lots of current information on US marine energy developments that is likely to be of interest to Tide Mill Institute’s members. [Link]

Some of the more noteworthy items include:

A carousel of photographs showing marine energy devices deployed in the water.
Notes on marine energy’s strategic role in the US energy portfolio.
An interactive map of the US highlighting the locations of marine energy suppliers, developers, labs and universities.
Spotlights on marine energy developers.

Tide Mill Institute joined the National Hydropower Association, the trade association representing the US hydropower and marine energy industries, in 2023. David Hoyle represents TMI on the Marine Energy Council, and also participates in the MEC’s Priorities Working Group. In recent years, the Priorities group has surveyed marine energy developers and researchers to establish priorities for funding by the US Department of Energy; the priorities are explained in a position paper. In 2026, the PWG provided input to – and feedback on – the update of the NHA ’s Marine Energy website.

October SPOOM Conference Convenes in Birmingham, Ala.

Millstones and crane at Kenan’s Mill in Selma, Ala. Kenan’s is just one of the stops on the October SPOOM conference program. (Photo courtesy of SPOOM)

Registration has opened for The Society for Preservation of Old Mills (SPOOM) October 16 and 17 annual conference in Birmingham, Ala. While no tide mills appear on this year’s program, much of the river-powered mill technology featured is common in tide mills.

SPOOM’s announcement describes the program:

Participants will have 2 full days of bus trips through central Alabama visiting historic mills and learning of its important industrial heritage. SPOOMers will be touring Tannehill Ironworks State Historical Park, Kenan’s Mill, Sweetwater Falls Millhouse, Sloss Furnace National Historic Landmark and Kymulga Grist Mill in Childersburg, AL.

More conference information

September Belgium Mill Tour Includes Working Tide Mill

Map showing Day 4 of the September 5 – 13 Belgian mill tour sponsored by The International Molinological Society. The tide-powered Spanish Mill of Rupelmonde is about 30 miles from Antwerp. (Click to enlarge.)

The International Molinological Society (TIMS) is still accepting registrations for its September 5th – 13th mill tour in Belgium. Day 4 of the tour includes a visit to the Spanish Mill of Rupelmonde, on the Scheldt River, about 30 miles southwest of Antwerp. The fully restored Spanish Mill, originally constructed in 1517, is the only working tide mill on the European continent, outside of the UK.

The seven-day tour visits 31 windmills, 13 watermills (including Rupelmonde), 2 horse mills, a farm mill, and a treadwheel used by a dog. Four museum collections and a miller’s statue are also included. Mill types include flour mills, oil mills, a flax mill, and a paper mill.

Detailed Program

Registration Information

Register Now: April 25 Tide Mill Conference in Connecticut

Registration has opened for the 2026 tide mill conference being held in Fairfield, Conn., on Saturday, April 25. You can attend “Tide Mills of Long Island Sound” in person at the Fairfield Museum and History Center or on line via Zoom conferencing.

Long Island Sound has at least 24 identified historical tide mill sites on its shoreline and tidal inlets. This year’s conference focuses on selected sites on Long Island and the Connecticut coast. Join us for an outstanding slate of illustrated talks and discussions of tide mill history and tidal energy.

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Using Tidal Energy to Make “Green Hydrogen”

“Green hydrogen” is hydrogen gas produced by using renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen with little or no carbon emissions. Now, a demonstration project at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) on the island of Eday in Scotland’s Orkney Archipelago [Google Maps] uses tidal energy to supply the renewable electric power for the hydrogen-oxygen splitting process.

Electrolysis, the process employed by EMEC on Eday, is a well-known technology that conducts electric current through water to produce hydrogen. What’s different about the EMEC center is their source of electricity: a tidal turbine located about a mile (1.6 kilometers) offshore, where it generates power from the strong tidal currents in the region. The 243-foot (74-meter) O2 tidal turbine, built by Orbital Marine Power, is tethered to the ocean floor and floats on the surface, deploying two 33-foot (10-meter) rotors that extract energy from tidal current flowing past its stationary hull. (The O2’s power capacity is 2 megawatts, enough to power about 2,000 homes.)

Hydrogen gas EMEC produces can be used for powering hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, a carbon-free transportation mode. Hydrogen can also be used for fueling rockets, producing ammonia for fertilizers, and for several other industrial processes.

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