The Mill

Built in 1818 by William Hankinson, the stone mill replaced Smith's Mills, a gristmill and sawmill built by Benjamin Smith around 1760, and the village itself was first known by that name. When Hankinson erected the stone mill, traces of the earlier mills were discovered. Known as The Mill, the original stone structure had only two floors, and an additional floor and a half and a wooden extension were added later. Its milling operations and ownership changed several times, but in 1880 John I. Blair, whose mansion The Homestead stood on the hill overlooking it, became the owner and remained so almost until his death in 1899, leasing it to others rather than operating it himself. After deteriorating badly, it was purchased and remodeled in 1903 through the efforts of Blair Academy and its headmaster, John C. Sharpe, and at the same time a dam was added and the meadow flooded to create Blair Lake. Milling ceased in 1932, after which it served for a time as a feed store, then stood vacant, and in 1940 its first floor was used by a local Girl's Club as a children's play area while part of the second floor housed the Blairstown Public Library. Beginning with 600 books, the library expanded to more than 1400 volumes, received substantial gifts, and was renamed the Catherine Dickson Hoffman Library, while the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and the Blair Women's Club also used the building, the last housing a museum there. As the village changed, the library moved to its own modern building with more than 72,000 volumes, and the mill came to serve as a residence for Blair Academy faculty; its raceway is gone, its water wheel remains in place, and it continues as a focal point of the community.

Blairstown, New Jersey · United States