The Mills

The importance of mills to Pownal’s economic development began in the eighteenth century with the first grist-mill that was water-powered by a dam built on the Hoosic; this site later became the Tannery. Mills became a keystone in Pownal’s economic life, with two grist mills and five sawmills by 1840. These early grist mills and sawmills were small-scale operations, which did not depend on the hydroelectric power harnessed through damming large rivers — a clear difference from larger cloth-weaving and woolen mills which were sited along the Hoosic River in Pownal.

Images from the mills in Pownal gained national media attention, and some are included below.

 Joseph Parks, Pownal: A Vermont Town’s Two Hundred Years And More (Hoosick Falls: A—B Graphic Art Service, 1977).