Dunham's Mill, also known as Parry's Mill, is a historic building located at 7 Lower Center Street in

Clinton, New Jersey Clinton is a town in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. It is located on the South Branch of the Raritan River in the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town's population was 2,719,gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

was in operation from 1837 to 1952. It was added to 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 ...

on April 15, 1982, for its significance in commerce and industry. In 1995, it was also listed as a contributing property of the Clinton Historic District. It shares the Clinton Dam across the

South Branch Raritan River The South Branch Raritan River is a tributary of the Raritan River in New Jersey.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. Description The source of the South Branch is the outflow from Budd Lake, a glacial remnant locate ...

with the David McKinney Mill (now known as the Red Mill) on the other side of the river. With Since 1952, it has been home to the

Hunterdon Art Museum The Hunterdon Art Museum, previously known as the Hunterdon Art Center and the Hunterdon Museum of Art, is located in a historic stone mill at 7 Lower Center Street in Clinton, New Jersey. It was founded in 1952 when it purchased Dunham's Mill, t ...

, described by an art critic as the "most charming and picturesque" museum in the state.

History

Daniel Hunt owned the land and a previous mill at this site during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. After his death, his son Ralph owned the property. In 1828, Archibald Taylor bought the property and had J. W. Bray and his son John B. manage it. In 1834, the mill was sold to George W. Taylor and James R. Dunham. In 1836, the previous mill burned and the current mill was constructed by Charles and James R. Dunham. Operations started in 1837. Samuel Parry purchased the mill in 1843. The mill was used to grind wheat, rye, corn, and oats for flour and animal feed. By 1870, a small

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

, or plaster, mill operation was added. After Parry's death in 1907, the mill was sold to Issac Krall, who operated it at full capacity during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After Krall's death in 1929, the mill was sold to Joseph Kreidel, who would be the last operator. The mill remained in operation until 1952, when it was sold to become the home of the

Description

The mill is a three and one-half story stone building with a

gambrel roof A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. (The usual architectural term in eighteenth-century England and North America was "Dutch roof".) The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, ...

. The stone walls are between thick. The original raceway went under a large brick archway on the west side of the building and exited to the south below the Clinton Dam. The main mill entrance and loading bays are located on the east side. A two-story stone plaster-mill building, built , is attached to the south side of the main mill building.

Gallery

File:7 Lower Center Street, Clinton, NJ.jpg, Gristmill, with plaster mill on the left, both with

banners

References

External links

* * {{NRHP in Hunterdon County, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Hunterdon County, New Jersey Grinding mills on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures completed in 1837 1837 establishments in New Jersey Stone buildings in the United States Buildings and structures in Clinton, New Jersey Historic district contributing properties in New Jersey Historic district contributing properties in Hunterdon County, New Jersey Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in New Jersey