The Grist Mill

The grist mill shown here was originally known as the St. Lawrence Mill. It was a three-story brick building erected by Lucius Moody in 1859-60 and for many years it was owned by D.W. Sherwin. Canton Town and Village Historian , If the ravages of swollen rivers and severe weather had not done enough to damage this and similar mills, by the early 1900s, the big mills in the mid-west had opened up and began to flood the East with all kinds of ground grain, corn, oats, wheat, and barley. SLCHA [St. Lawrence County Historical Association] , The mill had been built out onto bedrock into the river and could use power directly from the dam, but it was vulnerable to destructive forces of floods, ice and logs coming down river. It suffered significant damage in the late 1800s, and was repaired, but was finally washed out by flood waters on Novermber 18, 1927. SLCHA; Dwight Church, SLU [ST. Lawrence University], ODY Archives; SLHA , This diagram shows the basic parts of a typical macjine for grinding grain into flour. The water wheel used in the grist mill was probably a breast wheel, possibly 10 or 12 feet in diameter. It may have been manufactured on the island or on Water Street. Louis Hunter, A Hisory of Industrial Power in the United States , The two mill stones here on the bank, known as French Buhr stones, were probably made in London or France. Because there was no native stone available, the mill stones were made from pieces of stone that had been fitted together, set in a plaster or a cement-like material, and held in place by an iron band around the edge. , This is a detail of a survey map prepared by WCT Surveyors P/C., Canton, NY. Site features were located by David Babson, archeologist with Rush Consulting. Nearly 100 feet long from the inlet at the dam, a raceway provided water power for the grist mill and the sash and blind factory. Originally blasted out of solid rock with dynamite, it is now partially filled with rubble from the fallen building. WCT Survey Map, 2003