Ralston Grist and Saw Mill c. 1742
Built by Edmund Martin, this structure was a grist and saw mill as early as 1742. By 1780 the mill was owned
by John Logan. Records indicate the mill was purchased by John Ralston in 1786 along with the Manor House and 114 acres
of land. During the construction of the Morris Canal, local limestone was ground here for use in making cement.
The Ralston Feed Mill, as it was later called, continued to operate until about 1900. The building to the right in the
picture was built by Oscar Forsyth in 1898 and torn down in the winter of 1939-40 in decay and neglect. The property
owned by J. H. N. Potter was sold to F. LeMoyne Page who converted the stone mill into a residence in the summer
of 1940.
Nesbitt Mill c. 1848
Was built and
operated by John Ralston Nesbitt, grandson of John Ralston, as a grist mill. In 1908, Thomas Laughlin purchased the
mill and converted it into a distillery. "Tiger Applejack," or as it was sometimes called, "Jersey Lightning,"
was made here until prohibition forced the mill to close in 1919.
Pleasant Valley Mill c. 1840
Was
originally built as a two-story wood frame cotton mill, though by the 1850s it was operating as a fulling mill in which wool
was dyed, spun and woven with linen into a fabric called "wolsie." The building was destroyed by a flood in
1919. Today, only the foundation remains on Union Schoolhouse Road.
