Roslyn Grist Mill

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Roslyn Grist Mill
Roslyn Grist Mill.jpg
Rear elevation of mill, with modern
culvert, during 2008 renovations
Location Roslyn, New York United States
Nearest city Glen Cove
Coordinates 40°48′01″N73°38′58″W / 40.80028°N 73.64944°W / 40.80028; -73.64944
Builtca. 1715–1741 [1]
MPS Roslyn Village Multiple Resource Area
NRHP reference No. 86002638
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 2, 1986
Designated NYSLAugust 15, 1986
The mill viewed from the Roslyn Viaduct Roslyn Grist Mill from Viaduct 2016.JPG
The mill viewed from the Roslyn Viaduct

The Roslyn Grist Mill is a historic gristmill and future museum, located along Old Northern Boulevard within the Incorporated Village of Roslyn, in Nassau County, New York, United States. It was built at some point before the mid-18th century and is one of the few surviving Dutch colonial commercial frame buildings in the United States. [2]

Contents

Listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places in 1986, the historic structure is currently being restored by the Roslyn Landmark Society, for use as a museum.

Building

The 2+1⁄2-story rectangular mill is 50 feet 6 inches (15.39 m) long by 25 feet (7.6 m) wide. The original timber framing, which uses a series of transverse post and beam bents connected by sills and wall plates, differing from the traditional European grid pattern, is now covered in weatherboard. A 1+1⁄2-story wing is located to the west, above the race. A mill pond, incorporated into the Roslyn Village Historic District unlike the actual mill itself, is to the north, its outlet eventually feeding into Long Island Sound. [1] [3]

The ground floor has, in the past, been dropped about 12 feet (3.7 m) below street level, due to the effect of tides and renovations on its footings. A hook-and-pulley double plank door is located in the center of the attic. Windows are irregularly located, since many have been either added over time or boarded over. Some of the original milling equipment – primarily gears – remained inside the structure as of 1986. [1]

History

Roslyn Grist Mill historic marker Roslyn Grist Mill 20191030 02.jpg
Roslyn Grist Mill historic marker

A gristmill has existed on the site since the first decade of the 18th century, when John Robeson built on it. He in turn sold it to Jeremiah Williams, who is believed to have built the current mill sometime between 1715 and 1741. [4] After another owner, it became the property of Hendrick Onderdonk, who already operated two paper mills in the settlement then known as Hempstead Harbor, in 1758. [1]

He ran the mill profitably, and hosted George Washington, who mentions the mill in his diary, on a 1790 visit to the area. The Onderdonk family sold it in 1801 to Daniel Hoogland and Abraham Coles. They sold in 1849 to Joseph Hicks, whose family continued to operate it as a mill until 1916, when they converted it into a tea house and museum. That use continued until 1975, when the Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums took it over. [5]

During the county's ownership, the building remained vacant. Neither a new use or a new tenant could be found, and it continued to deteriorate. [6]

21st century restoration

In the 2000s, Roslyn citizens got Nassau County to begin efforts to restore the grist mill, through a restoration project ultimately expected to cost $2 million; the project is funded by the county, village, and matching contributions from the community. [5] [6] As part of the project, the mill will be raised back up to street level. [5] [6] Ultimately, when the work is complete, the county will transfer title to the village, which will let the Roslyn Landmark Society operate it as a museum of the water-powered industries like Onderdonk's that once were so numerous in the village. [5] [6]

In 2020, during the restoration, a time capsule was found embedded in concrete that dated to an earlier restoration in 1917. George Gorski, a Woodbury-based carpenter working on converting the mill into a museum, unearthed a half-pint milk bottle from the Alex Campbell Milk Co., a defunct Long Island distributor. Inside were four coins, a Civil War Army & Navy token (Da.1863), an Indian head penny (Da.1881), a Haitian 20 centimes (Da.1863) and an Indian head penny (Da.1905). There were two letters, one in English that was barely legible and one in Italian by an Artisan, Romolo Caparelli, who was from Pico, Italy. That letter was translated by a Cultural studies professor at Stony Brook University; it will be displayed at the mill when the restoration is complete. The other was from a Roslyn builder and descendant of a Hessian soldier who fought in the American Revolution, Steven Speedling, detailing the workers on the earlier restoration. [7]

In 2022, the Roslyn Landmark Society – in partnership with United States Representative Thomas R. Suozzi (D–Glen Cove) – secured federal funds for the project, through the Save America's Treasures program. [8] [9] Two years later, in 2024, construction work on the new foundation for the Roslyn Grist Mill was completed, and the restoration project entered its second phase later that year. [10] [11] [12]

In 2025 – one year after the new foundation had been completed, the Roslyn Landmark Society secured a $625,000 grant from New York state to cover additional project costs. Later that year, Nassau County awarded the $2 million in funds that had long been earmarked for the project in its budget, to complete the final phase of the restoration project. [13] [14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mark Peckham (March 1986). National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York MPS Roslyn Grist Mill. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved November 8, 2025. (Downloading may be slow.)
  2. ↑ "Roslyn Grist Mill". Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". cris.parks.ny.gov. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  4. ↑ Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (1992). AIA Architectural Guide to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island. New York: Dover. p. 59. ISBN   9780486269467 . Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Lauinger, John (October 28, 2007). "Landmark society working to rehab rundown Roslyn mill". The Daily News . Mortimer Zuckerman. Archived from the original on April 12, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Needelman, Joshua (October 16, 2024). "Roslyn Grist Mill restoration underway, eyed as education center". Newsday. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  7. ↑ Zou, Dandan (November 29, 2020). "At historic Roslyn Grist Mill, an unearthed bottle spills out links to the past". Roslyn Landmark Society.
  8. ↑ Lane, Laura (February 16, 2023). "Assessing the Suozzi legacy". Herald Community Newspapers. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  9. ↑ Staff, Anton Media Group (October 18, 2024). "Congressman Suozzi shows support for Roslyn Grist Mill". www.longislandpress.com. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  10. ↑ Yanes, Darwin (January 12, 2023). "In Roslyn, a new mill foundation will shore up piece of history". Newsday. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  11. ↑ Pelaez, Robert (July 14, 2021). "Construction on Roslyn Grist Mill's new foundation to commence in July - The Island Now Roslyn Times". The Island Now. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  12. ↑ Prisco, Julie (September 24, 2024). "Roslyn Grist Mill restoration is in phase two". www.longislandpress.com. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  13. ↑ Needelman, Joshua (January 17, 2025). "Roslyn Grist Mill restoration lands $675,000 state grant". Newsday. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  14. ↑ TREND, NEW YORK (September 15, 2025). "Nassau County Awards $2 Million to Complete Roslyn Grist Mill Restoration". NEW YORK TREND. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
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