An Abandoned Penstock and Turbine

I wanted to find the flumes that everybody talks about in the summer. They are in Westmore on Mill Brook on the Long Pond Road. I am trying to learn how to photograph water scenes better (because I don't like landscape photography). On the way down to the brook, we found the relics of a large penstock and turbine. We don't know what they powered — a sawmill? village water? But it's all there in the woods and it looks nice and historic.

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The Ruins of Stevens Mill at Stone Flume

Stone Flume as viewed from our house.

Across the road, at the top of the beaver bog, is Stone Flume. I found the name on an old town map. May Brook flows from May Pond and down the flume, through the beaver bog and over Dam #5 on its way to Crystal Lake. The kids like to go and slide down the flume in the summer. But there is another attraction there: ruins of an old mill. There are still iron spikes in the granite ledge of the flume where the mill was attached to the rock. There are stone walls and a foundation that you can explore. This is the best time of year to see the ruins because the foliage hasn't grown up and buried it. Here are some photos of the ruins that I took on May 1 when we walked over to visit.

A deep crack in the granite ledge created by the expansion of winter ice.

On old maps this mill is called Stevens (or Steven’s) Mill. I haven't been able to find out why, but when I do I'll post the information. I assume that a family named Stevens lived in the house closest to the mill. I don't know if they milled grain or sawed lumber.

The west side of the mill's stone wall.

The other, east side, of the wall.

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