The Philips Gristmill Site

This is the site of a gristmill owned by the Phillips family. The existence of the mill demonstrates the diversity of economic activity a farmer could engage in. It is also an element in the small cluster of commercial enterprises that were the beginning of a small potential village that never developed due to changing transportation facilities, such as canal, railroad, and new roads which bypassed it. The site contains archaeologically significant remains of the mill and its water power system. These remains can be seen in the woods just across Pleasant Valley Road from the schoolhouse. The mill and its pond are indicated on the 1849 map and the mill is shown on maps through 1860.

John Phillips had a mill on this site before 1779. It was operated by members of the Phillips family until about the time of the Civil War. Local farmers used the mill to grind their grain crops into flour and animal feed.

In the center of this photo is the berm that was part of the mill pond and millrace that powered the Phillips grist mill on this location.