NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
AND REMINDER 
Vol. XII 
Manchester, Mass., Friday, June 19, 1914 
No. 25 
Mills 250 Years Old 
Riverdale Grist Mills at Gloucester Propelled by Nature’s Currents 
During That Time 
NE of the interesting landmarks of the North Shore, 
within an hour’s ride of any part of the shore, 1s the 
Riverdale Grist Mills at Gloucester. For more than 
250 years—the exact date of erection is not known— the 
mills have been operated. ‘This makes the Riverdale 
mills one of the oldest industrial organizations in the New 
World. Although it was only 25 years ago when corn- 
laden ships were seen unloading their products at the 
mill to be ground, it may not be many years before the 
mill will be a thing of the past, when the memories 
associated with it will be the only remains of this famous 
landmark. 
The mills . still continue to operate at their daily 
grind, such as they have done almost unceasingly for the 
last 250 years, with nature’s power supplied by the waters 
of quaint old Mill river, which eventually winds its course 
into Annisquam river. 
These ancient mills, bearing unmistakable signs of 
the ravages and wear through two and one-halt cen- 
turies, form an interesting and important part of Glou- 
cester’s history. Situated right in the heart of pictur- 
esque Riverdale, where ex-Gov. Bates and scores of 
Greater Boston residents annually find a summer retreat, 
the dilapidated buildings and running stream with its 
foamy churn ‘have a certain environment and charm which 
seems to make the spot all the more attractive. 
The present owners of the mill have made no effort 
to disturb or modernize and annually thousands of bushels 
of grain, corn, etc., are being ground into meal.’ \ Over 
25 years ago, the mills were purchased by the late Albert 
Dodge in connection with his grain business maintained 
in the city proper and after his death, the property was 
taken over by the Albert Dodge Company. 
Situated on the northern boundary of a small bridge 
which forms a continuation of Washington street, the 
main thoroughfare, the mills are conspicuous. The River- 
dale settlers, or any school boy can tell you of their ‘/his- 
tory, how their grandfathers and great grandfathers used 
to bring their corn there to be ground. Means of pro- 
curing daily food 
and conveniences for 
preparing it, were 
matters of chief con- 
cern in the early days 
Semin our time, A 
mill for grinding 
corn was therefore 
erected by the first 
settlers of the town, 
although no mention 
is made of the date 
of its erection. In 
1664 the inhabitants 
granted the mill then 
standing and in use, 
— Sree 
. mn 
RIVERDALE GRIST MILLS, GLOUCESTER, 
with all the rights, privileges, ponds, and streams belong- 
ing to it, and all fresh meadow above the mill to their 
pastor, the Rev. John Emerson, on condition that he 
should maintain and keep that, or some other mill, in 
such ‘frame and order,” that it could grind for the use 
of the town. 
They also signed a document, the intention of which, 
as far as can be judged from its loose phraseology, was 
to secure him the patronage of the whole town. 
From votes of the town, passed some years later, 
an inference may be drawn that Mr. Emerson did not 
for a long period make any use of the grant, for on 
Feb. 18, 1677, the town voted that a cornmill should be 
set up and erected on Sawmill dam and the town give 
the stream to the corn mill. ‘‘Sawmill Dam” is the place 
now occupied by the tide-mills, or Riverdale Mills, herein 
mentioned. 
No other mention of a cornmill is found until May 
13, 1690, when one was erected on Walker’s Creek on the 
spot where the old dam is still to be seen, at the westerly 
end of the stream running from Cape Pond. The town 
records state that on March 11, 1677, a town meeting was 
called, when “upon much discourse about the mill, Mr. 
John Emerson, having undertaken to erect a corn mill, 
did promise in said meeting to set it upon the sawmill 
dam, and to supply the town.” 
At the same meeting Mr. Emerson, John Fitch and 
Thomas Riggs were named as proprietors of the old 
sawmill, which they were to repair and have the privi- 
lege of cutting timber enough to make 20,000 feet of 
boards annually for seven years. In the division of the 
Rev. Mr. Emerson’s estate the mills have passed through 
various hands until their occupation by Levi Brackett and 
Sidney Brown, two Riverdalers who operated it many 
years, after which Mr. Brown came in possession until 
a quarter century ago, when they were sold to Mr. Dodge. 
The last vessel to navigate Mill river with corn was 
the old Riverdale, which unloaded some 25 years ago. 
Older residents can remember when quite a fleet of sail 
landed their cargoes 
and the milling busi- 
Hess iw asin: Les 
prire, but those days 
have long since 
passed into history 
and it is only a mat- 
ter of time, perhaps, 
when the old River- 
dale mills with others 
will have vanished 
inte the memory of 
the past. 
Reference to the old 
mill at Rowley will 
be made next week. 
