424 The Story of The Bronx 



John Bartow, who, in 1790, sold it to John Reid, a Scotchman, 

 whose son Robert was the last miller. The mill has thus been 

 known as "Bartow's," but more commonly as "Reid's mill." 

 It was for many years the town mill, and as such passed into 

 the possession of the city of New York at the time of annex- 

 ation. It was a great barn-like structure of wood and was 

 blown down in a storm about 1900, so that nothing now re- 

 mains of it except the foundation stones. Near-by is a pictur- 

 esque old structure, probably the home of the miller, the oldest 

 part of which, so it is said, dates from 1668. 



The first settlement of Eastchester was made by the ten 

 families from Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1664. The neck upon 

 which the mill is situated formed a part of the "planting neck." 

 As stated elsewhere, the two settlements of Westchester and 

 Eastchester were closely allied. When they were separated in 

 1667, difficulties arose in regard to the undivided lands and 

 their ownership. 



The importance of having mills and craftsmen of various 

 kinds, especially smiths and carpenters, was early recognized, 

 and inducements in the way of land and money or produce 

 were held out to settlers who were mechanics. As early as 

 1670, there is a record of John Jackson building a mill for the 

 settlers on Rattlesnake Brook, probably to the east of the 

 Westchester path, about where Holler's pond is located. In 

 1676, permission was also given to erect mills at Silleck's 

 Landing, not far from the present bridge over Hutchin- 

 son's River, at the Boston Road. No mills were built 

 here till 1826, when a mill was erected nearer the bridge; 

 but it only stood for ten years, when it was destroyed by 

 fire. Silleck's Landing was the town landing at which the 

 sloops trading by way of Eastchester Creek with the outside 

 world tied up; it is now, approximately, the Mt. Vernon 



