Scudders Mills

A grist mill, saw mill, and fulling mill known as Scudders Mill stood on Old Harrison Street 500 feet from this spot. The mill was built by Josiah Davison between 1737, when he bought the land from his brother, Dr. Daniel Brinton Davison, and 1749, when he sold it to Jacob Scudder of Long Island for 1,400 pounds. Scudder bequeathed the thriving mill to his son, Colonel William Scudder of the American Army. In December 1776, during the American Revolution, the British, housed nearby, destroyed the mill. Benjamin Gray and his wife, Jane, bought it at public auction on February 28, 1885, and rebuilt the mill as Grays Mills. As people became less dependent on the mill, it was left to deteriorate.

New Jersey · United States