The Shaker Mill

The Shaker Mill. . The Mohican (Stockbridge-Munsee) Indians leased this land in 1763 to early West Stockbridge settler Elijah Williams, who built a dam on the river and an iron forge on its east bank., In 1805, a local attorney and land speculator, Enoch W. Thayer, moved two barns to the site and joined them together to create the present structure, a grist mill., The Tyringham Shaker Community purchased the property in 1818 and continued operating it as a grist mill until selling it in 1851., A subsequent owner, an early adopter of electricity, harnessed the energy of the Williams River in 1909 to power the mill and provide the town with its first electric lights. A riverside extension of the building, which housed the power and grinding machinery, was later razed., The mill was purchased in 1933 by Arthur Baldwin, who converted it into a hardware, feed and lumber enterprise. For several decades beginning in the 1970's, the building housed an antiques business. , In 2013, the Shaker Mill (known locally for generations as The Barn) and adjacent building were purchased by a long-time Berkshire bookseller. The newer building (to your right) houses an extensive collection of used, rare and out-of-print books. And the venerable old mill, continuing its evolution, now features unusual books and book-related art, whimsically displayed where once there were millstones and grain bins and flour sacks.