Gurley-Mason Mill

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Gurley-Mason Mill
Information sign at the Gurley-Mason Mill Site, Mansfield, Connecticut.jpg
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Location Mansfield, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°50′00″N72°14′34″W / 41.833342°N 72.242907°W / 41.833342; -72.242907 Coordinates: 41°50′00″N72°14′34″W / 41.833342°N 72.242907°W / 41.833342; -72.242907
Area2.31 acres (0.93 ha)
Established2000
Governing body Joshua's Trust

The Gurley-Mason Mill was a historic sawmill and gristmill located along the Fenton River on the north side of Old Turnpike Road in Mansfield, Connecticut. The mill was built around 1778, shut down around 1935, and demolished in the mid-1960s. [1] The 2.31-acre site and ruins have been conserved by Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust since 2000. [2] The Gurleyville Historic District lies two miles downriver. [3]

Contents

History

The sawmill was built by Zebulon Gurley no later than 1778. It stayed in continuous operation through owners Joseph Tinney, John Grant, John Fitch, and Jillson Darling. In 1864 the Masons purchased the property and added a gristmill. Charles and Frank Mason built a blacksmith shop across the Turnpike from the mill. Frank ran the mill while Charles built chairs, shingles, sleds, and wagons, manufacturing wheel rims and other parts. [1] Frank Mason died in 1928 and Charles in 1929. Charles Mason's sons-in-law, Hibbard Parker and Henry Knowlton, operated the sawmill sporadically thereafter and ceased operations by the mid-1930s. A hurricane washed out the dam in 1938, and attempts by Mason Parker, grandson of Charles Mason, to restore it were unsuccessful. The mill was demolished in the mid-1960s and the smithy around 1975. [1] [2]

The Masons also owned the Mason-Knowlton Place, consisting of a historic farmhouse and two barns, which is listed on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. The last Mason to own the mill property was Eva Belle Mason Knowlton, who died in 1983. [4]

The mill property was donated to Joshua's Trust by Leonid and Beth Azaroff in 2000. [2]

Significance

For over 150 years, the mill operated with an up-and-down saw. Although most mills in the United States had switched to rotary saws by 1840, the Mason Mill continued its use until the mill ceased operations around 1935. The Smithsonian Institution purchased the saw and other equipment. [2]

In 1885, Charles Mason, along with Gurleyville millers Emory B. Smith and William Williams, sued James Hoyle, who had dammed the Fenton River in Willington, thereby reducing the water flow for these mills operating downstream. The plaintiffs won the lawsuit, which is still cited as a precedent in cases involving riparian water rights. [1]

See also

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Fenton River

The Fenton River is a major water source for the University of Connecticut that runs through Mansfield, Storrs, and Willington, as well as small parts of Windham, all but the latter in Tolland County, Connecticut. spanning 18.895 miles. It feeds into Mansfield Hollow reservoir at its end, making it a tributary to the Mount Hope, Natchaug, and Willimantic rivers. The Fenton River is fed by several smaller brooks, streams, and creeks. It is used as a water source by the University of Connecticut Storrs Campus, and is as thus relatively shallow. The stone Gristmill on the intersection of Stonemill and Gurleyville roads was once functional, and now is protected by the Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust. Along its shores are huge swaths of protected land, mainly belonging to the university, Joshua's Trust, Nipmuck Trail, or other such preserve. Soil erosion is a small problem along some stretches. The USGS has a river flow and height monitoring station posted in the Fenton on Old Turnpike Road, in Storrs. It is currently not being pumped due to drought.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Favretti, Rudy J; Mansfield 300th Four Corners Neighborhood Committee (2003). Mansfield Four Corners: what it used to be & George Washington didn't see. Storrs, Conn.: Bibliopola Press of the UConn Co-op. ISBN   978-0-939883-12-7. OCLC   53032563.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Joshua's Trust Conservation and Historic Trust (2019-12-28). "Mason's Mill Site". Archived from the original on 2019-12-28. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  3. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service (1975-10-08). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form - Gurleyville Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  4. "Mason-Knowlton Place" (PDF). Historic Barns of Connecticut. 2013. Retrieved 2020-08-02.