From The Scrap Book
November 22, 1989
Dr. Bill Randall
Grist Mill Stone In York Mills
Want to look at other monuments? If so, there is one on Ted Embleton’s lawn at Upper York Mills. It has no fancy brass plate on it but is one of the first stones used in a grist mill there.
The other is the dam built in 1865. At that time, James Little got a grant of 100 acres known as the Mill Lot on the North East branch of the Magaguadavic River, and com ing down over Hard Scrabble Hill from his home, he started to build a dam and a mill. For over one-hundred-years the Littles have operated mills at that site; saw mills or grist mills.
James felt the community needed a grist mill for oat meal and barley were two of the staples in their diet. Jim’s son Robert continued with the mill for another generation and Robert’s son Clarence continued into the next generation and added the manufacture of butter boxes.
Clarence’s son-in-law Claude Little carried on for an other generation but finally wa ter powered mills became redun dant and Claude’s son James, who operates the lumbering business now, trucks the logs away.
So, the old dam built so long ago began to deteriorate. It was functionally unessential but it was aesthetically desirable.
Claude Little, with the help and support of his neighbors, decided to repair and re store the old dam. It had originally been built with shovels, picks, bars, drags and dump carts but in 1985 when they rebuilt the dam they used more modern methods. The dam, the old mill and the grind stones all remind us of the industry of these early settlers and we, with the Littles and their relatives, appreciate them.
Take the time to stop by for a look.
Source: Rev. Bill Randall’s “From The Scrapbook Vol. One.”
