This coming summer and fall, the public can tour the Van Wyck-Lefferts tide mill in Huntington, Long Island, N.Y. A total of 13 more tours are being offered in 2022. The next tour is Monday, June 13, and the last tour of the season will be October 25.

The Van Wyck-Lefferts mill is the best preserved 18th century U.S. tide-powered grist mill known to remain in its original location. It is also one of only two remaining U.S. tide mills with machinery and millstones intact. The site is maintained by the Van Wyck-Lefferts Tide Mill Sanctuary, Inc., who is continuing its multi-year fundraising and restoration campaign for the mill building and dam.

Continue reading “Long Island, N.Y., Tide Mill Offers Summer and Fall Tours” →

Tide Mill Institute has received a grant of $3,000 from the Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative (EMCI) to support archaeological work this summer at the Bell mill sites in Edmunds, Washington County, Maine. The work will be done by Independent Archaeological Consulting LLC of Dover, N.H.

This summer, Tide Mill Institute and EMCI will sponsor an archaeological study of the two mill sites on the property to explore these examples of the county’s early milling culture and to develop an inventory record of all previous tide mills in the area.

About 1780, Robert Bell, from St. Andrews Scotland, built a tide mill at a likely spot in western Cobscook Bay.  It operated for some years under his direction and that of his family. That mill ceased operation, and the Bells created a fresh water mill further up the stream. A generation or so later, a freshet tore that mill apart, but by then, some family members had switched their activity to farming and forest products.   Today, those activities have morphed into an active organic farm operated by the seventh, eighth and ninth generations of the Bell family.

There will be several public meetings so the public can view the remains of the mills. Email info@tidemillinstitute.com for more information.

Old York Historical Society of York, Maine, will present a free Zoom webinar: The Rise and Fall of Tide Mills in York: Exploring Colonial-Era Technology and the Future of Renewable Energy. Featuring four speakers from the Tide Mill Institute, the webinar will describe how tide mills work, the remaining evidence of these mills in York, how to access tide mill information on line, and where tidal power is still in use today.

The program starts at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (New York time) on Thursday, March 24. There is no charge for attending, but advance registration is required. More information is available on the society’s website.

Digest of recent tidal energy development news
by David Hoyle

Author’s note:
While culling articles on tidal and wave energy for this digest from my Google Alerts feeds I was pleased to see a large number of articles from the US. Previously, UK articles on tidal and wave energy were dominant. It’s encouraging that the US Department of Energy is supporting research by its National Renewable Energy Laboratory as well as by universities on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Total US tidal energy potential is estimated as 220 TWh/year (enough to power 21 million homes), while the total tidal potential for the UK is around 50 TWh/year. Note that the US wave energy potential at 1,400 TWh/year dwarfs the tidal potential, so I think it’s worth our while to keep abreast of wave energy developments!

General Interest

This excellent, short video provides an accessible overview of available technologies for tidal power generation.
Tidal energy could be huge – why isn’t it?

USA

Maine’s ORPC plans to test a smaller version of its RivGen turbine technology at the site of the former Great Northern Paper Co. paper mill in Millinocket. Thanks to John Johnson for pointing out this article!
Renewable energy company plans to test its technology at Millinocket mill site

The Atlantic Marine Energy Center (AMEC) led by UNH has been awarded nearly $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to expand scientific understanding and study the overall effectiveness of wave energy and tidal energy conversion.
UNH-led Atlantic Marine Energy Center Receives Nearly $10 Million From DOE

The Department of Energy (DOE) is also collaborating with Florida Atlantic University on a vessel for testing tidal turbines (here referred to as current energy converters or CECs).
Design Efforts Proceeding for Mobile Test Vessel for Tidal Energy

Continue reading “Tidal Energy News” →

“Tide Mills: Green Energy from the Colonial Era” takes viewers around New York City, highlighting local tide mill histories with historical maps, photos and diagrams.

It first became available on YouTube last fall when Brad Vogel teamed up with Stefan Dreisbach-Williams to develop this virtual tour of several tide mill sites in the boroughs of New York City. The 60-minute presentation brings the mill sites to life and places them in context with the larger history of the area.

Brad is a leader of Tide Mill Institute’s New York Chapter and a director of the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club. Stefan is on the tourguide staff of Turnstyle Tours, which conducts public tour programs and research in partnership with nonprofit organizations in New York. Viewers of the presentation will see that both men are passionate and knowledgeable about the region’s history.

As the national authority on historic tide mills and a center reporting on today’s rapidly evolving tidal energy industry, the Tide Mill Institute is pleased to announce a speaker program — “Tide Mill Talks.”

The Tide Mill Talks program is perfect for historical societies, libraries, museums, community groups, residential communities, and schools. In keeping with the Tide Mill Institute’s mission, Tide Mill Talks are designed to build community awareness and pride in the past, highlight the engineering ingenuity and societal contributions of 17th-19th century tide mill operators, and consider tidal power as a future source of renewable energy.

Continue reading “Tide Mill Talks: New Tide Mill Institute Speaker Program” →