by Patrick Malone, Professor Emeritus, Brown University

Walter Edward Minchinton (1921-1996) was a British industrial archaeologist and economic historian.  In 1964, after teaching for 16 years at University College Swansea, he became head of the new Economic History Department and Professor of Economic History at the University of Exeter.  His academic publication record includes numerous studies that he authored, co-authored, or edited. Following his retirement as an Emeritus Professor in 1986, he continued to do research and write about industrial topics, with a primary focus on tide mills.

The John Carter Brown Library at Brown University provided Professor Minchinton with a fellowship in 1993 that allowed him to study early American tide mills.  While in Rhode Island, he investigated the tide mills of that state and collaborated with local scholars such as Dr. Richard Greenwood, one of the early members of the Tide Mill Institute.  The Rhode Island Historical Society assisted Minchinton’s investigation and provided images for the article that he submitted to its journal, Rhode Island History.

Continue reading “Walter Minchinton’s “Tidemills of Rhode Island”” →

A fair amount has been written about Brouwer’s (or Freeke’s) tide mill, built sometime before 1661 on Gowanus Creek in what is now Brooklyn, N.Y. In Gowanus: Brooklyn’s Curious Canal, Joseph Alexiou calls it the earliest tide mill in New Netherland, which consisted of today’s New Jersey, southeastern New York and part of Connecticut. Its early date is reason enough for the attention the mill has received from historians. But it is also closely associated with the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn, when Washington’s Continental Army set it on fire to keep it out of British hands.

Anyone wanting to learn more about the mill’s history would do well to start with a report, “Brouwer’s or Freeke’s Mill,” just produced by Earl Taylor of the Tide Mill Institute. His report is brief but provides some history and several references to helpful books, articles, illustrations and maps. Most of these references are easily accessible on line via the links provided in the report.

Read “Brouwer’s or Freeke’s Mill.“

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” →

Even if you haven’t visited southern Maine, you’re still sure to enjoy The Tide Mills of Kittery, a new 34-minute video about tide mill technology and history, exploring several abandoned tide mill sites between Kennebunkport, Maine, and Hampton, N.H. By themselves, the superb aerial video segments by Jim White are enough to make viewing well worth your time.

This video premiered at the annual conference of the Tide Mill Institute, held on line in mid-November, and all are now invited to watch it by clicking the link at the end of this announcement. The drone’s eye views of tide mill sites gives us a new way to examine these somewhat hidden landscapes.  After decades of tide mill enthusiasts dealing with muddy boots or looking down from satellites with Google Earth, we now have a fantastic tool to see this history in our own backyards and in great detail.

The tour starts with a welcome by Bud Warren, a Tide Mill Institute founder and former president. Bud explains the role of tide mills in American Colonial history and describes how ingenious millers trapped seawater from the incoming tide and then released it through a channel to power water wheels or turbines. This mechanical power was then harnessed to grind grain, saw timber and perform other tasks formerly requiring human or animal muscle power.

Continue reading “New Tide Mill Video – Not Just for Locals” →