Blue Hill’s Early Water-Powered Mills

by Phil Norris

John Roundy and Joseph Wood, the first settlers, arrived in Blue Hill, Maine, in 1762. They may have heard rumors of an exceptional water power somewhere on the coast of Maine east of the Penobscot River. Or they may have stumbled on the reversing falls at the Salt Pond as they nosed into Blue Hill Bay by boat looking for a place to settle. Either way, they must have been amazed at the water crashing in and out with the tide. They must have sat there in their boat, the gears turning in their heads. Here was a power that could run a sawmill and there were giant virgin-growth trees coming right down to the shore.

All the mills of that period were powered by water. Most were on rivers and streams and made use of dams to tap the power of the falling water. But all along the New England coast there were tide mills. These would trap water in an enclosure at the high tide and use the head created by the falling tide to power up-and-down sawmills and grist mills.

Grist mill at Blue Hill Falls, c. 1880. Click to enlarge. (Drawing by Phil Norris.)

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The Truro Tide Mill’s Final Years

by Tim Richards

Author's note: This posting follows three earlier postings on this website to complete the chronology of the Truro (Mass.) Tide Mill from 1790 to 1878, at least partially filling the historical gap. Thus far, the research has been based primarily on maps, histories, census records, deeds, and probate documents. However, if a proposed tidal restoration project proceeds and requires excavation around the mill site, that project could provide an exciting opportunity for an archaeological study of the mill.

Truro tide mill (marked “Grist Mill”) shown on an 1858 map.

Small-scale grist mills powered by the tide had little place in the industrializing economy of the late 19th century. The demise of the Truro Tide Mill, however, occurred earlier than that of most other North American tide mills.

When the proprietors upgraded the Truro Tide Mill in 1844 (see “A Better Mill for Truro” on this website) the Truro fishing fleet and associated industries were prospering. The town’s population had increased twenty-four percent between 1830 and 1840 and was continuing to grow.

To be sure, storm clouds were on the horizon. Truro grain production declined between 1840 and 1850, even as the town’s economy and population grew. Millers should have been the first to spot this development, but perhaps the decline was not apparent by the early 1840s, even to millers.

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Long Island (NY) Tide Mill Restoration: Amazing Progress in 2021

Van Wyck-Lefferts tide mill during 2021 roof work. (Photo courtesy of Van Wyck-Lefferts Tide Mill Sanctuary, Inc.)

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic that crippled work on so many projects worldwide, restoration work at the Van Wyck-Lefferts tidal gristmill in Huntington, N.Y., has made impressive progress during 2021.

In a November 1 letter to friends and supporters of the project, Richard Hamburger, president of the Van Wyck-Lefferts Tide Mill Sanctuary, describes the accomplishments for the year. These include completion of extensive dam repairs and the replacement or repair of damaged building components, including the roof. (During this work, some old wooden gears were found to be still operable!)

The work was funded by grants from The Nature Conservancy and the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation along with individual donations.

The president’s report indicates that much more remains to be done. The organization has goals to repair a bulkhead protecting the mill, implement a plan for vegetation on the dam surface that will withstand salt water, and develop a program to share this site’s remarkable history and technology with the public.

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2021 Tide Mill Conference: Oct 16 in Portland, Maine, or On Line

Tide mill site map from the new TMI tide mill database being previewed at the Oct 16 Tide Mill Conference. (Click to enlarge.)

Register today for the annual tide mill conference on Saturday, October 16, at 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (14:00 UTC).

This year it’s a hybrid: attend in person at the University of Southern Maine in Portland from 10 am to 2 pm, or join on line via Zoom for the presentations from 10 am to 12 pm.

This year’s presentations offer unusual variety. They’ll cover tide mill sites in Maine and Cape Cod and describe how tide power influenced the course of history in New York and Portugal. Participants will also hear the latest news about modern tidal energy technology.

In addition, the conference features the first public preview of the Tide Mill Institute’s new online tide mill database. It currently holds data and images for U.S. tide mill sites from Maine to Virginia, and it could eventually be expanded to worldwide coverage.

The first 20 to register for the in-person program will tour the Osher Map Library on the USM campus from 1 to 2 pm, so register as soon as possible to reserve your space. Note that the Osher collection now includes insurance drawings from the American Textile History Museum.

Presentations start at 10:00 EDT (14:00 UTC) and end at 12 (16:00 UTC). After a brief Tide Mill Institute business meeting and a lunch break, twenty in-person participants will tour the Osher Map Library accompanied by archivist Jane Ward.

More information and registration instructions

State and local Covid protocols require masks for in-person conference participants.

Tidal Energy News

Digest of tidal energy development news from April 20 to August 9, 2021

by David Hoyle

USA

Verdant Power’s tidal power array being deployed at New York’s Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Site in 2000. (Photo courtesy of Verdant Power.)

The output of Verdant Power’s Roosevelt Island (New York City) tidal power array was measured over a period of 39 days by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC). The array generated 187 kW at peak flood tide velocity. This is the first time EMEC has done an assessment outside of their Orkney, Scotland facility. A world’s first for EMEC and Verdant Power – International Water Power.

95% of the potential for tidal power generation in the US exists in Alaska according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The first article, below, describes NREL’s efforts to identify locations with the highest potential in the Cook Inlet. NREL’s chart on the technical power potential of US marine resources, included in the article, is worth a look. Cook Inlet tidal energy potential tops in the nation.

Maine’s Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) has submitted a permit application for a proposed 5 MW tidal power pilot project to be located in the Cook Inlet. Ocean Energy – ORPC Plans to Advance Tidal Energy In Cook Inlet.

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Ancestors of the Millstone

Saddle quern and rubbing stone. (Image courtesy of Claire H., CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.) Click to enlarge.

Tide mills were built for a variety of purposes, but probably their most common and best known use was grinding grain into flour: the grist mill. The heart of a grist mill, whether powered by tides, freshwater streams, wind or animal power, is its millstones. These disk-shaped, grooved stones are familiar to mill enthusiasts worldwide.

But how did people convert grain into flour before these stones and the methods for powering them became available? Mills Archive, an organization near London (U.K.) dedicated to preservation of mill history, recently sent out a reminder about an article on their website describing manual tools used for grinding grain since prehistoric times. And some of these tools, such as saddle querns, are still grinding grain in some parts of the world today.

Read “The First Milling Stones” on the Mills Archive website.

Note: This article is just one of an excellent series on the Mills Archive website and well worth exploring: “From Quern to Computer: The History of Flour Milling.”