Brayton Grist Mill
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Brayton Grist Mill is an historic
grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
along Mashamoquet Brook, at the entrance to
Mashamoquet Brook State Park Mashamoquet Brook State Park ( ) is a public recreation area in the town of Pomfret, Connecticut. Notable features of the state park include the Wolf Den national historic site, the Brayton Grist Mill, and the Table Rock and Indian Chair natur ...
off
United States Route 44 U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonkso ...
in
Pomfret, Connecticut Pomfret is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,266 in 2020 according to the 2020 United States Census. The land was purchased from Native Americans in 1686 (the "Mashmuket Purchase" or "Mashamoquet Purchase ...
. Built about 1890, it is one of the best-preserved 19th-century rural grist mills in the state. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1986. The mill has been restored, and is maintained by the Pomfret Historical Society as the Marcy Blacksmith Museum; it is open by appointment.


Description and history

The Brayton Grist Mill is located near the geographic center of Pomfret, on the west side of the entrance road to Mashamoquet Brook State Park, just south of US 44. It is a vernacular post-and-beam frame structure, four stories in height, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. Mashamoquet Brook parallels the road, descending in a southerly direction, and passes west of the building. The mill was probably fed by a headrace or underground channel. Its power equipment includes a 19th-century turbine mounted in a wooden frame in the basement, reinforced with cast iron tie rods. The second level of the mill houses equipment for gearing the turbine's power shaft down to equipment working speed. The third level houses milling equipment patented in 1888 and 1890. It now also houses a collection of blacksmithing tools and equipment.http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM7E15_Brayton_Grist_Mill_Pomfret_CT Waymarking Mashamoquet Brook was the site of a number of early mills, dating at least as far back as 1816. This mill was built by William Brayton c. 1890 from materials salvaged from older mills that were on the site. It is the last surviving mill of several that are known to have lined Mashamoquet Brook in the area. Brayton died in 1928, and the state purchased the property in 1930 as part of an enlargement of the state park.


See also

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National Register of Historic Places listings in Windham County, Connecticut __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Windham County, Connecticut. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Windham County, ...


References

{{National Register of Historic Places Industrial buildings completed in 1890 Grinding mills on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Grinding mills in Connecticut Buildings and structures in Windham County, Connecticut Museums in Windham County, Connecticut Mill museums in the United States Pomfret, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Windham County, Connecticut 1890 establishments in Connecticut