National Register of Historic Places

Brayton Grist Mill

Pomfret, Windham County, Connecticut
Listed
June 12, 1986
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
86001257

About this property

Brayton Grist Mill is a historic grist mill along Mashamoquet Brook in Pomfret, Connecticut. The mill was built about 1890 and is one of the best-preserved 19th-century rural grist mills in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It has been restored and is maintained by the Pomfret Historical Society as the Marcy Blacksmith Museum, which is open by appointment. The 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 United States Route 44. It is a vernacular post-and-beam frame structure, four stories high, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. The mill's 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. This mill was built by William Brayton around 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.

Location

Pomfret, Windham County, Connecticut
41.95085, -71.97559

Categories

INDUSTRY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Woodstock Academy Classroom Building
Industrial
0 mi
Woodstock Hill Historic District
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0.1 mi
Bowen, Henry C., House
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0.1 mi
Bowen, Mathew, Homestead
Industrial
0.6 mi
Taylor's Corner
Industrial
1.9 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Nipsachuck (Second)
1676Colonial
11.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Brayton Grist Mill listed on the National Register?

Brayton Grist Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 12, 1986.

What type of historic resource is Brayton Grist Mill?

Brayton Grist Mill is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Brayton Grist Mill?

The period of significance for Brayton Grist Mill is recorded as the industrial era.

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