The Gurley-Mason Mill was a historic

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

and

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 ...

located along the

Fenton River 300px, Fenton River along the Nipmuck Trail just north of CT Route 44 (UConn Forest) The Fenton River is a major water source for the University of Connecticut that runs through Mansfield, Storrs, and Willington, as well as small parts of W ...

on the north side of Old Turnpike Road in

Mansfield, Connecticut Mansfield is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 25,892 at the 2020 census. Pequot and Mohegan people lived in this region for centuries before the arrival of English settler-immigrants in the late 17th cen ...

. The mill was built around 1778, shut down around 1935, and demolished in the mid-1960s. The 2.31-acre site and ruins have been conserved by

Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust, or Joshua's Trust, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) land trust operating in northeast Connecticut. Joshua's Trust was incorporated in 1966 to help conserve property of significant natural or historic inter ...

since 2000. The

Gurleyville Historic District The Gurleyville Historic District encompasses a formerly industrial rural crossroads village in Mansfield, Connecticut. Centered on Gurleyville and Chaffeeville Roads, it includes a collection of mainly vernacular 19th-century residences, a stone ...

lies two miles downriver.

History

The sawmill was built by Zebulon Gurley no later than 1778. It stayed in continuous operation through owners Joseph Tinney, John Grant, John Fitch, and Jillson Darling. In 1864 the Masons purchased the property and added a

. Charles and Frank Mason built a blacksmith shop across the Turnpike from the mill. Frank ran the mill while Charles built chairs, shingles, sleds, and wagons, manufacturing wheel rims and other parts. Frank Mason died in 1928 and Charles in 1929. Charles Mason's sons-in-law, Hibbard Parker and Henry Knowlton, operated the sawmill sporadically thereafter and ceased operations by the mid-1930s. A hurricane washed out the dam in 1938, and attempts by Mason Parker, grandson of Charles Mason, to restore it were unsuccessful. The mill was demolished in the mid-1960s and the smithy around 1975. The Masons also owned the Mason-Knowlton Place, consisting of a historic farmhouse and two barns, which is listed on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. The last Mason to own the mill property was Eva Belle Mason Knowlton, who died in 1983.{{Cite web, last=, first=, date=2013, title=Mason-Knowlton Place, url=https://connecticutbarns.org/upload/state_reg/20754/sr-barn_mansfield_oldturnpikerd_185_no.168.pdf, url-status=live, archive-url=, archive-date=, access-date=2020-08-02, website=Historic Barns of Connecticut The mill property was donated to Joshua's Trust by Leonid and Beth Azaroff in 2000.

Significance

For over 150 years, the mill operated with an up-and-down saw. Although most mills in the United States had switched to

rotary saw A rotary saw, spiral cut saw, RotoZip or cut out tool is a type of mechanically powered saw used for making accurate cuts without the need for a pilot hole in wallboard, plywood, or another thin, solid material. The Rotozip Tool Corp was a compan ...

s by 1840, the Mason Mill continued its use until the mill ceased operations around 1935. The

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

purchased the saw and other equipment. In 1885, Charles Mason, along with Gurleyville millers Emory B. Smith and William Williams, sued James Hoyle, who had dammed the Fenton River in Willington, thereby reducing the water flow for these mills operating downstream. The plaintiffs won the lawsuit, which is still cited as a precedent in cases involving

riparian water rights Riparian water rights (or simply riparian rights) is a system for allocating water among those who possess land along its path. It has its origins in English common law. Riparian water rights exist in many jurisdictions with a common law herit ...

References

Mansfield, Connecticut Watermills in the United States Protected areas of Tolland County, Connecticut Sawmills in the United States Demolished buildings and structures in Connecticut Buildings and structures demolished in the 1960s

History

Significance

See also

References