By Tim Richards
In 1844 a better [tide mill] was erected upon the site….
from History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts.
Compiled by Simeon D. Hamilton Hurd, 1884.
Development of the Truro Tide Mill before 1790 created a high-value business for the town and owners. Fifty years later, Truro was booming. Driven by increased cod and mackerel catches, the town’s population leapt from 1,547 in 1830 to 2,051 by 1850. More mouths to feed meant more demand for flour. It was not assured, however, that the aging tide mill could retain its share of that business.
In 1840, Truro supported the tide mill and three windmills. Recently-built windmills incorporated longer, more efficient blades, increasing their grinding capacity over a wider range of wind conditions. This competition may have pressured the tide mill proprietors to increase their mill’s horsepower and operating hours.
At the same time, important Truro Tide Mill proprietors likely faced a separate financial challenge. In April 1841 Anthony Snow Collins mortgaged his home and other property to the newly-established Truro Fire and Marine Insurance Company for $250. At least seven other tide mill owners mortgaged their houses with the same company at this time. These mortgages appear to have represented their investment in the company.
Collins was the grandson-in-law of original mill proprietor Benjamin Hinckley. At least by 1850, Collins served as the miller and owned the largest portion of the mill.
Three weeks after the new insurance company recorded the 89 mortgages it had issued, disaster struck. On October 2, 1841, a powerful storm surprised the fishing fleet on George’s Bank. Fifty-seven Truro men and boys died. Seven Truro vessels were lost. Resulting claims eventually bankrupted the Truro Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and as Shebnah Rich notes, “The stockholders were obliged to pay the face of their notes without receiving a single dividend.” The loss may have made it even more important for the proprietors to secure improved returns from the tide mill.
Despite the tragedy, three years later the proprietors completed the upgrade. The primary enhancement seems to have come in water wheel technology. The original mill featured a vertical undershot wheel. An 1840 deed described a property line as “on a direct course for the Water Mill Wheel” and the 1841 map below includes a whimsical sketch of the wheel.
After the upgrade, an 1864 deed specified that the mill utilized a “spout through the dike.” Moreover, no known document after 1844 refers to a vertical wheel. To TMI members Bob Gordon and Pat Malone, this suggests the proprietors could have installed a reaction wheel, such as one Calvin Wing patented in 1830 (illustration below). Cast-iron reaction wheels – forerunners of hydraulic turbines – were driven by water directed into the wheel through a spout and were not visible from outside the mill.
A reaction wheel would have met the proprietors’ performance objectives. Reaction wheels delivered twice the power of an undershot wheel. Moreover, undershot wheels could not function when an incoming tide reached the wheel and ice could inhibit or prevent their operation. By contrast, reaction wheels functioned while submerged, enabling additional hours of milling every day, and they were less likely to freeze during the winter because they were protected beneath the mill.
For all its advantages, the upgrade came at a substantial cost. Reaction wheel prices ranged from $75 to over $450. Dam and mill modifications would have required additional investment from proprietors already hard hit by the failure of the insurance company. Still, the upgrades made the tide mill more competitive while also extending its position as the most capital-intensive Truro mill.
The wheel was not the only 1840s upgrade. The mill’s legal situation also required improvement: the original proprietors had dammed a tidal creek without Commonwealth authorization. Town authorities and the proprietors lived with the ambiguity of an unauthorized dam for over fifty years. To modify a Chinese proverb, “the Bay was wide and Commonwealth officials far away.”
What then prompted the decision to address this issue? Perhaps proprietors became concerned that their investments were vulnerable to legal challenge. Perhaps Massachusetts legislator Allen Hinkley sought to bring his hometown into compliance with state law. Perhaps the town wished to build Mill Pond Road but would not build on an unauthorized dam.
In any case, Hinkley petitioned the legislature to legalize the operation. (Hinkley owned one-third of a Truro windmill. He may also have held one of the 41 shares in the tide mill. His action suggests a collegial, as well as competitive, relationship between mills.) In 1847 the legislature authorized the “doings of the owners… in constructing and continuing [the] dam.”
With improved technology and a solidified legal position, Collins and his colleagues had invested heavily to serve expanding demand for milling. In fact, natural forces and steam power soon jeopardized that anticipated growth.
The author is grateful for water wheel technology contributions from Bob Gordon and Pat Malone and also for mill ownership research by Carlotta Zilliax.
Editor’s note: This is the third article by Tim Richards based on his research into the history of a tide mill that once stood near his home in Truro, Mass. His previous reports are “Discovering a Tide Mill in Truro” and “Cape Cod Mill Values: Tide vs. Wind.” To view his May 19, 2021, webinar about the Truro tide mill presented by the Truro Historical Society, visit the Truro Historical Society’s webinar recordings page, which contains a link to the webinar. Tide Mill Institute values Tim’s efforts to discover and share tide mill history.
This article and Tim Richards’ other articles about the Truro tide mill have been incorporated into a single research paper, “Ebbs and Flows of a Cape Cod Tide Mill,” published in the December, 2022, issue of International Molinology. This paper is available here with permission from International Molinology.
One wonders if there is any co-operation or overlap between the significant work of the Tide Mill Institute and the Society for Industrial Archeology. For a number of years I was a member of SIA and, in spite of BS and MS Industrial Management degrees from GA Tech and sometime instructor in American Economic History–granted in the late dark ages, I found their publications too technical for me. However, IMHO, the importance of tide mills in American economic development should be more widely known.
Dick:
I have been a member of the SIA since its founding, have served as its president, and have published a number of articles in its journal. There is considerable overlap between SIA and TMI. For the SIA’s Portland, ME, conference a few years ago, I organized and chaired a session on tide mills that had very good attendance. I also gave a talk about Boston’s Back Bay tide mills at the regional conference of the New England SIA chapters (North and South). Many of the attendees at annual TMI conferences are also SIA members or members of the regional chapters. SIA members recognize that tide mills are an important part of our industrial heritage. Most would like to see more research and publication on tidal power. TMI is working to expand collaboration with SIA.
Interesting and entertaining!
I am glad you enjoyed it Fred. There will be more to come about this particular mill. Tim Richards