Preservation Projects

The Stockbridge Mill Project

Recognizing the economic inefficiency of operating a gristmill in an age of rapid industrialization and astounding technological innovation and improvement, the Clapp family of Scituate shut down the Stockbridge Gristmill in 1900. In 1922, they donated the then-still-operable mill to the newly-formed Scituate Historical Society.

The Society ground corn at the mill on special occasions between its opening as an historic site on September 15, 1923 and 1936. That year the mill operated by water power for the last time for almost four decades, delighting spectators participating in the town's tercentenary celebration.

In 1961 the Society attempted to run the mill by electric motor, but a heavy vibration shook the building, causing them to shut down the machinery and re-evaluate the idea of operating the three century-old site. After considering the installation of a waterwheel or possibly conceding to the ravages of time and retiring the site forever, the Society accepted a monetary donation from local contractor Allen Wheeler in 1970 to repair the mill to operable condition. Wheeler's brother Robert dug out the flume that now runs thirteen feet below a roadway from Old Oaken Bucket Pond and determined that the vibration that rocked the structure in 1961 probably had been due to the fact that the nether stone was out of plumb.

A trial run of the mill led to one further realization. Due to the recent construction of the Driftway Medical Center behind the mill, First Herring Brook had changed course. Now, rather than running out to the Atlantic Ocean after leaving the mill, the brook retreated and came right back inside again. Town workmen used bulldozers to restore the course of the brook. On June 20, 1970, the sluice gates opened once again and the mill ground corn for the public for the first time in thirty-four years.

One month later, professional miller Robert Allen of Sudbury, Massachusetts visited the site and dressed the nether stone, using the mill's original 340-year old oak crane to lift the runner off its counterpart. The picture at the left is of the wood screw, estimated to be over 300 years old and from a local tree, that Mr. Allen used to once again in lift the mill stone off the nether stone.

The Stedman-Russell-Stockbridge Mill thrived as a regional attraction for Boston's South Shore throughout the 1970s and 1980s. However, as time wore on, the machinery wore out. The mill currently rests in an inoperable state, as it has been for seventy-six years, but only as a silent reminder of early Yankee ingenuity.

On December 29, 1997, the Scituate Historical Society's Vice President for Preservation inspected the Stockbridge Gristmill on Country Way and prepared a detailed building assessment report. He approached the assessment with the idea of conducting an evaluation of the mill's physical condition considering the three basic factors of safety, structural integrity and aesthetics. His report led to the formation of an eleven-point checklist of $47,000 worth of needed repairs to be completed in no more than five years.

On July 24, 1998, Mr. Richard Barton of Barton Associates, Consulting Engineers, inspected the mill's inner gate, and three weeks later sent an estimate to the Society detailing $20,000 worth of needed repairs to the mill's machinery alone.

In March of 1999, Scituate Town Meeting voted to allocate $22,000 of town funds to be used to repair yet another portion of the mill's working parts, the sluice gate in Old Oaken Bucket Pond. The article, Article 4: Capital Improvement Plan, was enacted, and the outer sluice gate has now been repaired.

In October 1999, the nationally-recognized Society for the Preservation of Old Mills voted to give a $2500 matching grant to the Scituate Historical Society to begin the necessary repairs to the building, commenting in their Old Mill News, "Keeping mills operational so that others can understand the milling process is a vital part of education. The grant committee believed that this endeavor deserved encouragement and, when additional funds became available for grant allocation, this mill became (its) recipient." During the 2000 calendar year, the Society contracted Dana Green of Yankee Wood Products to re-shingle two sides of the building, and to replace the sill on the west side, rotted by water runoff from the road. The picture at the left shows the reshingled back of the mill - a contrast to the siding in the picture at the top. During the process of replacing the sill, Dana and his crew found a floating corner post- sawn off at the top and rotted away at the bottom- which they quickly replaced, keeping the cost within the $5000 specified by the grant. The picture at the right shows the discovery of the floating post.

Also in 2000, the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department detailed a work crew to paint the trim on the building, asking only that the Society provide the materials needed, and lunch for the crew. Their hard work saved the Society tens of thousands of dollars over the course of the summer, as they painted the Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum and the Little Red Schoolhouse as well.

Early in 2001, the Society applied for a National Trust for Historic Preservation Preservation Services Fund Grant to hire a professional millwright to complete an historic structures report. In January 2002, millwright Andy Shrake of Dennis, Massachusetts spent two full days on site, preparing a full plan of action for saving the historic gristmill. “In summary,” he writes, “you have a mill with existing fabric from all eras, with sound framing, good millstones, good bearings, etc. You have all the pieces you need to put the mill back in running order again, and it is not too complicated a project if approached correctly.”

With the passing of the Community Preservation Act in Scituate in 2002, the townsfolk made a commitment to help fund their historic preservation projects, open space initiatives, affordable housing projects, and more. The Scituate Historical Society has applied for funding to cover the restoration of the Stockbridge Gristmill through the Community Preservation Act. In 2005, the building was renovated, including new shingles. In 2006, a turbine will be installed, completing the restoration.