Local Author pens look at old mill sites in Ashford
Local Author and History Enthusiast Richard N. Symonds, Jr. recently published A Glimpse of Lost Mills sites in Ashford, Connecticut, a collection of photographs and articles about many of the mill sites from Ashford’s manufacturing past.
Using a combination of town records, similar publications, historical aerial photographs, topographical maps and primary research, Mr. Symonds has compiled an extensive list of known and potential mill sites along the several streams and rivers that flow throughout our town. Organized along these moving waters, the book provides current and historic photographs, excerpts from town records, and occasional anecdotes that tie the known and speculative with the remnants and artifacts we see today.
A Glimpse focuses on the larger, primarily north/south waterways that did or could provide power for a variety of mill types. Studied in the book include Basset Brook, Bebbington Brook, Bigelow Brook, Goss Brook, Gardner Brook, Knowlton Brook, Lead Mine Brook, Moritz Brook, the Mount Hope River (East and West Branches), Tinkerville Brook, and Urda Brook. With such a broad area covered, one can scarcely imagine a section of town not close to an old industrial site!
The types of mills that Mr. Symonds reveals shows a vibrant mix of products across the centuries driven by our natural resources. Saw mills , grist mills, shingle mills, cider mills, and oil mills would have provided the necessary materials for a colonial town that found transportation difficult and needed to support its own people with its own produce. Later, specialized industry began to arise and the town produce a range of manufactured goods. From blacksmiths forges including trip hammers and machine shops making tools and weapons and supporting other mills, to spindle, bobbin, fulling, and carding mills producing raw materials for the textile industry. And the most famous of our mills, the glass mill, made itself a reputation during middle of the 19th century, with outlets across the northeast.
As you read through the book, you’ll see examples of old mill ponds, foundations, and other articles you can associate with our not so distant past. Many of the mills, and their dammed ponds, were active and used until the early 20th century. Many fell into disrepair, and others still were breached and destroyed during the Hurricane of 1938.
All around Ashford today you can see the remnants of a bustling industrial age that speaks to the Yankee industriousness our fellow citizens. Armed with the research done by Mr. Symonds, and published in A Glimpse of Lost Mills sites in Ashford, Connecticut, you to will know where to look and what to look for as you travel through town. and you, too, will be able to answer the question: Is there an Ashford Mill Site near you?
The Ashford Historical Society has copies of this interesting book available for sale at the Town Hall.