The Mill at Crosswicks

This is the mill at Crosswicks, New Jersey, The mill was powered by the Crosswicks Creek, There is no sign of a Water Wheel or the type of Mill Race that would power and external wheel, by these deductions I presume the mill was driven by a water turbine.

These arches not only were the support of the mill they were the out flow of the water that powered the mill.

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I have searched for the exact date of the first mill on the Crosswicks Creek at Crosswicks, but could not locate one. The best I could come up with were references to a mill at Crosswicks in the late 1700’s. The dam at Crosswicks is registered with the State of NJ Historical Society Historic Register as “The Old Eagle Dam”, this and the present foundation of the mill are registered as one of the oldest in the state.
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The Crosswicks Creek has powered several mills and contributed to the growth of several towns along its path, Timmins Mill, Ocean County, the former name of New Egypt, which just happens to be the approximate Geographical Center of New Jersey, Waln’s Mill, in Walnford, Monmouth County, The mill there built in the 1800’s, The mansion 1774. The Mill at Crosswicks and the mills at Groveville, Mercer County, all of these mills were Grist Mills, with the exception of the mills at Groveville.

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The Crosswicks Creek was a hub of transportation from Groveville, South. With Ships picking up and delivering goods to the mills at Groveville and the docks of Houston and Green in Yardville, connecting these companies with Philadelphia, via the Delaware River and New York and north via the Delaware - Raritan Canal.

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There were also Grist Mills that dotted the area along Doctors Creek, one at Grovevlle and also a Saw Mill, two at Allentown, and one at Imlaystown. Marlene Donnell mentioned that there was also a prominent mill in Cream Ridge on the Miry Run. The Miry Run was a branch of the Crosswicks Creek, just up stream from Walnford and Waln's Mill. The mill was originally owned by Judge Lawrence. Joseph Holmes purchased it in 1873 and sold it the next year. He again purchased it and it remained part of the farm for almost a century. The mill was a red 5 story clapboard structure. Farms brought grain to the mill to be ground. The building was torn down in the early 40's. The feed house and millers home are still on Holmes Mill Rd. The milling stone remained on the property for many years. During the restoration of Walns Mill, the stone was transported to that mill, where it remains today.

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I was fortunate to have the last owner of the Mill at Crosswicks find my web site and contact me. His story was very interesting; the photos he sent me were great.
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What I have found is that the Mill at Crosswicks was originally built as a Grist Mill, at the time this area of New Jersey; Monmouth, Burlington, and Mercer County, were large producers of grains. Like any good business they must produce year round, when the Mill Ponds froze and there was no flowing water to run the mills, without the possible damage to the mechanism of the wheel, they cut ice from the pond and stored it and sold it for use in the summer, this was the case with the Crosswicks Mill.
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A separate building was constructed to store ice. The ice in the pond was cut into “Cakes”. “Cakes” were more or less standard size, 22 inches by 12 inches, weighing about a hundred pounds. After the cakes were cut, they were poled through the water to shore. Here a long plank sloped into the water; the trick was to give the cake of ice enough momentum so that its weight would carry it up where someone with a pair of tongs could snag it..... The ice was hauled to the ice house on two-horse bobsleds. Layer by layer the ice house was filled. A sprinkling of dry sawdust was scattered between each layer of cakes. This made them easier to separate when they were taken out. A two-foot-wide layer of sawdust was tamped lightly between the ice and sides of the building. After the last layer was pushed up the long, oak plank, the whole heap was covered a yard deep with sawdust.
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If a family were cutting ice for personal use it took an average of three hundred cakes to last a family through the summer.

Harvesting the Ice from the Mill Pond

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As time changed the growing of grains diminished as farms changed to growing vegetables and dairy, lessening the need for Grist Mills, but with the invention of equipment to commercially produce Ice, the entire facility was changed from a Grist Mill to an Ice House, manufacturing Ice and a Cold Storage facility
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The facility changed hands over the years, in 1920 the new ice producing equipment was installed and Ice was sold to many commercial companies in the area including the Hildebrecht Ice Cream Company, of Trenton. At this time in the 1920’s it was owned by Charles W. Brick, Also during this period a large fire destroyed a large portion of the original mill.
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The last owner purchased the mill and the entire 22 acre parcel of land in the 1980’s, with the hopes of continuing the manufacture of ice, restoring the buildings and the dam to their original condition. The plan was to produce Hydro Electric power; “Old Eagle Dam” had been registered as a utility company, to power the Mill Facilities and the surrounding community with electric power. Due to government restraints as to what could and could not be done with the structures, as time passed the building fell in to such disrepair that they were not able to be restored and had to be demolished. This was a great loss not only to the owner, but the community and the history of the community.

The Dam at Crosswicks, forming the Crosswicks Mill Pond

These two boys are fishing at the entrance to the Mill Race. The Race is to the left. The walk-way is to allow the cleaning of the wooden screen that blocks debris from entering the Race and damaging the Wheel or Turbine.



The Dam at Crosswicks, registered with the State Of New Jersey as "The Old Eagle Dam".




Everyone benefited by the pond, even the livestock.







The interior of the mill.





The Mill, the Ice House, and the Cold Storage Facility

Work being done on the restoration.

The Cold Storage Facility.