Wyckoff Mill (courtesy of Mark Brown)

Mill Creek flows into Seneca Lake about a half mile south of the present Lodi Marine State Park. An extensive flood plain extends to the east, where Silver Thread Falls roars 125 feet into a majestic waterfall. The falls have been a wonder of nature in its splendor, and a landmark, since discovered by early settlers.

For many years, Silver Thread Falls was a popular tourist attraction. During the years of boat travel on Seneca Lake, day excursions would bring hikers intent on visiting the falls, compared with Niagara Falls as a scenic wonder. Guests at The Willows, the hotel at Lodi Landing, also made picnic trips to visit the falls.

Engravings in publications like "The 1876 History of Seneca County" denoted the historic site. It was a place to proudly take guests to see a famous local work of nature. The bridge of the Lehigh Valley Railroad - over the ravine - provided easy viewing, rather than making the trek by foot up from the lake.

The demise of the railroad, as well as other things over the years, has changed the way Silver Thread Falls is regarded. Access is limited, as it is only through private property.

THE MILLS

A listing of the mills along Mill Creek can be made by going upstream from the mill nearest Seneca Lake, at Silver Thread Falls. Early settler, Andrew Emmons, discovered the awesome waterpower it delivered and built a fulling mill with a log cabin near the north brink of the falls. The cloth made at this mill was cotton flannels and wool, made entirely by hand for men's clothing. It was said to be of excellent quality and would not shrink.

The mill to the east was built in 1801 on Military Lot 43 near the falls in a deep ravine below the present West Lodi Cemetery, where Levi Ellis and his son, William Ellis, erected a grist mill. Moses Ellis, a relative of Levi, was known to have an Indian wife who came from an Indian group near the Lodi-Ovid Town Line.

The Ellis Mill was on the site of the stone mill of Charles Wyckoff, purchased from Nicoll Wyckoff. By 1876, a thriving business was established. A small center of houses, a one-room school and the early Methodist Church were located nearby.

To the west of the Wyckoff Stone Mill was a busy fulling mill, in the charge of John B. Smith. A saw mill, also just west of the Stone Mill, was owned by S.S. Gulick.

The Stone Mill survived the longest time of the mills. On Sept. 1, 1933, it was noted that Dr. Walter B. Ford purchased the Stone Mill from Mrs. Nelson Stout. On June 15, 1934, stone from the old mill was removed to provide stone for the Fords' home on Cayuga Lake. Dr. Ford, noted as author of mathematics textbooks while at the University of Michigan, gave funds for the establishment of the Edith B. Ford Memorial Library in Ovid, NY.

Another fulling mill was located to the east on Mill Creek and was operated by "Doctor" Barker, known as an "odd character," due to a controversy about a patent for rubber buckets in chain well pumps.

South Lodi Mill (courtsey of Pat Smith Orcutt)

East of Barker's Mill, John DeMott in 1830 ran an oil mill, which made linseed or flaxseed oil - managed by Peter Fox - also described as "an odd one," but with no details.

Upstream, another fulling mill was later converted to a plaster mill, shown on Lot 45 on a Map of 1850. Stone was ground into a fine powder and was used to promote the growth of clover plants.

Next, to the east, was the Mundy Mill, a saw mill. Saw mills seem to have been located near other mills, using waterpower to the best advantage. After clearing the dense forest of the area, the best logs were squared off green on site, using an adze. Marks can be seen on summer beams and huge timbers under old houses.

Lumber sawn at a nearby saw mill was used for framing, girts, sills and sleepers. A note is made of the abundance of prime timber from white, red and black oak, white and yellow pine, maple, elm, ash, hickory, chestnut, whitethorn, cucumber, walnut, beech and crabapple. Basswood was in such vast amounts that the eastern part of town was called The Basswoods. This fine wood was cut for wonderful barns, which have lasted for generations.

The year 1794 marked the building of the first mill close to the crossroads known for years as DeMott's Corners, later Lodi Village. Silas Halsey arrived with his extended family of 18 persons from Long Island in 1792. He settled on Lot 37 and at once became a prominent figure in industry and politics. He erected the grist mill on Lot 45, at the top of a swift waterfall, located below the present bridge on County Rt. 136A, which may have been an old Indian trail.

The Halsey Mill thrived and was then acquired by D. Mosher, who ran Mosher's Mill for several years. In the 1860s, the mill was owned by Elijah Howell, and was known through the area for its fine custom work. Before Howell's death in 1876, the mill was purchased by George Nathan Maxwell and for more than 30 years, Maxwell's Mill was running full time, turning out flour, feed and meal, with grain bought and sold, as well.

Maxwell installed a full roller system, operated by modern steam turbines. Milling often extended into the night, to complete orders. Several men were employed at the mill and high standards were set for its operation. No definite proof was established for the raging fire that destroyed the mill in 1912. The mill was a total loss and was not rebuilt. Foundations of the mill can be located near the waterfall, but Maxwell's Mill is only a memory.

The next sizeable waterfall is on private property, above Route 414, south of the village, but not the site of any mill. The next mill was called the Red Mill, located a mile upstream and a mile south of the village. It was both a grist and saw mill, built by A. Comfort, owner of the mills in the early 1800s. Well known among the many owners were M.H. Ingersoll and John LaTourette, who had active mill work going for many years.

By 1830, John DeMott took over the Red Mill. He bought grain and pork, keeping a large warehouse. Peter B. Osgood was in charge of another activity, turning thousands of bushels of apples into cider, which was then converted by Sam, the colored artist, into distilled whiskey.

Cider was a common beverage in many homes, with barrels of cider available in country cellars. Whiskey was consumed frequently, also, a required item for any celebration or important occasion. A barrel of whiskey sat on the counter of DeMott's Store and the bar at the Eagle Hotel across the street.

Several mills were in the vicinity of the bustling community of Lodi Center. There was a post office, a general store and one-room school. The John LaTourette Mill had a penstock of boiler iron sunk deep into the ground with a small turbine wheel in the bottom which furnished power. Water flowed into this from the mill race, and was carried away by a flume to the Mill Creek below.

The Wyckoff Mill used a comparable mechanism. The underground flume was dug by Frank Cross, who also built the stone barn on the Highland Farm. The LaTourette Mill and the Maxwell Mill were operated by steam power as well as water power from Mill Creek.

The Russell Saw Mill was very active for a time. It was run entirely by steam power, with a large circular saw, lathe and shingler. Water was pumped from a well into a boiler. The pump was an old-fashioned chain and bucket, mounted high in the mill and fed down into the boiler by a pipe. The mill was owned later by J.R. Easton, who carried on a big business.

The Bishop Mill was an upright saw mill, located on the Bishop Farm on Lot 56, north of the Wilson Dean farm. The Dean Mill also was on Lot 56, south of the Bishop Mill.

Owned by David Osgood, the Osgood Mill was formerly the Tunison Mill, on the Post-Osgood farm on Lot 66, as shown on the Map of 1876. This area was not far from the source of Mill Creek, where the flow of water was less powerful.

The Osgood Mill had a large mill pond, which held reserve water to be used when the creek ran dry. It was a very popular place for the little community. Its huge pond offered fishing for bullheads in the summer and ice skating in winter, drawing crowds for seasonal fun. David Osgood was killed from high up in his own mill. A devastating rain storm took out the dam to the mill pond and it was never restored.

In 1800, Stephen Bishop settled on Lot 55, where a grist mill and flouring mill were operated by J. LaTourette. Three grist mills operated at the same time in the Lodi Center area - the Bishop Mill, the Osgood Mill and LaTourette Mill.

Near the source of Mill Creek on Lot 91, close to the Lodi-Hector Town Line about five miles south of Lodi Village, Palmer's Mill was shown on a Map of 1850 and later known as the Hector Mill, operated by Joel Russell, using steam power.

The time when there were 15 busy mills on Mill Creek is now only another period of small town history. The mills defined an era of early settlers who cleared the land, building homes and stores, while growing into a self-sufficient farming life, later replaced by an industrial, mechanized way of living.