For Research
Timeline of the Great Works Mill
| Timeline of the Great Works Mills |
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By Rick Coughlin and Norma Keim, Old Berwick Historical Society, November 18, 2004 “. . . Cometh Down to ye Great mill workes” (Patience Spencer deed, 1682) 1631 Model of a saw-mill sent to Newichawannock on ship Pied Cow (from original letter from Thomas Eyre of the Company of Laconia to Ambrose Gibbons, London, the last of May 1631) 1634 Capt. John Mason’s three carpenters begin building a saw mill and a grist mill at Newichawannock, but where in Newichawannock -- “smalle falls” or “steepe falls?” 1653 Richard Leader sells _ of the mill privilege to John Beex, Richard Hutchinson, Colonel William Beale and Captain John Alderne. Edward Rishworth, Court Recorder of Maine, was their agent at the Mills. (Water Powered Sawmills of the Piscataqua, Richard Candee) 1655 Edward Rishworth rents the mill privilege to Richard Tucker 1667 King James confirms claim of Mason’s grandson, Robert Tufton Mason, to Mason’s lands in Newe England 1669 Inventory of land and property questions ultimate success of the proposed multi-saw operation – “broaken mill” 1675 Robert Tufton Mason and Eliakim Hutchinson, brother of Richard Hutchinson, have been partners for a period of time 1687 Mason sells his share to Hutchinson (YD VI, Fol. 103) 1690 King William’s War – settlements and mills of Salmon Falls and Old Fields badly damaged 1697 Because of devastation of attacks on settlements and mills of Salmon Falls and Barwick, residents cannot pay their taxes 1699 January 10, Eliakim Hutchinson sells mill to John Plaisted 1699 February 7, John Plaisted sells mill to John Hill of Saco 1712 John Hill dies, mill remain in the hands of the Hill family (Mary Frost Hill) and then their sons, John and Elisha Hill, until 1770s 1761 Great forest fire rages across New Hampshire and Maine, burning for one month in the “new township at the Head of Berwick (Lebanon, Maine). 1777 David Moore, merchant and shipbuilder, dies, his personal inventory including the saw mill & privilege at Great Works worth 90 pounds 1791 Judge Benjamin Chadbourne writes that lumbering and saw milling as major industries exist no more at Berwick (today’s South Berwick) 1816 James Hill sells partial mill privilege at Great Works to Andrew Goodwin for $20 1827 James Hill sells partial mill privilege to Theodore Jewett, Benjamin Nason and Timothy Ferguson for $75 1833 Capt. William L. Foote buys land and a mill privilege at Great Works -- Great Works Manufacturing Co – produces custom cloth and cassimere (cashmere) 1835 Theodore Jewett, Benjamin Nason and Timothy Ferguson sell partial mill privilege (10 2/3 twenty-fourths) to William L. Foote for $1,500 1836 Foote sells part of mill privilege to Andrew Goodwin 1839 Great Works Manufacturing Company conveyed to James Tatterson by deed dated March 20th 1839 1843 Capt. Foote still operating a woolen mill; there seem to at least two woolen mills operating simultaneously at Great Works 1845 Numerous transfers of mill privileges transfers from several to Robert D. Nesmith to others of Lowell; eventually ends up in hands of Isaac Farrington who sells to John Burleigh in 1855; there were several different mills there 1854 John Burleigh and others form corporation and organize the Newichawannock Company Corporation at the falls. Woolen mill and saw mill operate into the 20th century. Woolen blankets a specialty. 1859 - Five story brick mill, 40 x 80 feet, built at lower dam (Source: The South Berwick Register, 1904.) 1914-1918 Wool blankets manufactured for the U.S. Army WWI 1920s Blankets for American Express Co.; Burleigh blankets, car robes 1932-33 Mill closed for a year during the Great Depression 1939 Labor unrest -- walkout reported in John L. Knight's newspaper "The Reporter" 1941-1945 Woolen blankets for the U.S. Army WWII 1949 Rocky Gorge Mill closed permanently; equipment auctioned off 1957 Committee formed of Board of Trade and Town Selectmen, to clean up and repair building to attract new industry and businesses; Proto-Type Inc. and Great Works Co. become tenants 1950s Chicken farm in Great Works mill (wooden building) 1975 Brattle Street Gallery makes its home in small brick building on Brattle Street 1989 Archeological testing at Great Works mill sites; with so many disturbances over the century, find little remaining of archeological value 1993 Three buildings demolished in June 1993 ca 2000 Last brick building visible on 236 demolished 2004 Rocky Gorge Corporation owns and operates the site for hydro-electric power
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