Workshop studies history of mills BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD — The significance of mills live on in local street names like Millers Mill and Holmes Mill roads, not to mention an entire township named Millstone. Mills were once the center of commerce in American and European communities. Miller and Mueller are common surnames denoting the livelihood of ancestors. The Society for the Preservation of Old Mills (SPOOM) wants to make sure the history and craftsmanship of mill structures is not forgotten. A workshop for the societies’ members, who are called "spoomers," was held Sept. 18 at Walnford Park, the site of the historic Waln gristmill. About 20 mill enthusiasts from around the country attended the event, which featured timber-framing and turbine workshops. PHOTOS BY VERONICA YANKOWSKI staff Dave Crocco (l) gives Bob McLaughlin a lesson on timber framing at a Society for the Preservation of Old Mills conference in Upper Freehold last Thursday. Jim Kricker, Saugerties, N.Y., was one of the instructors for the timber-framing workshop. He runs a mill restoration business and was among those who worked on the Waln’s mill restoration. "If we’re not able to look back on our history and learn from it, we’re in bad shape. A mill is an important part of the history of civilization," Kricker said. Kricker said he has worked on mills that were basically a "pile of rubble," or some, such as Waln’s, that were out of service for many years. He has worked on mills up and down the eastern seaboard and in the Midwest. "Small, rural mills were phased out in the 1870s-80s," he said. "Agriculture changed. The big wheat fields moved further west. Technology changed and was not as dependent on local water sources. More efficient mills were built near sources out West, and railroads could bring in [grain] near cities." Kevin Johnson and Phil Robertson work on a turbine during a workshop. Harold Rapp, Colts Neck, said Crosswicks Creek once had seven mills on it. There were different types of mills — gristmills, such as Waln’s, for processing grain, sawmills for lumber, and fulling mills for wool, said Rapp, an historic interpreter for the Monmouth County Park System. There were countless numbers of mills in the 19th century, and while thousands still exist today, they are only a fraction of what existed a hundred years ago, according to the spoomers. Kricker said he is hired to work on mills primarily by municipal governments and parks departments, as well as a few wealthy individuals who wish to restore private mills. "Old mills were built relatively simply," he said, "by a few individuals with a few tools, and became an important part of the community." Kricker said he likes the fact that the public can view the physical object of a restored mill and start to understand the circumstances of the time. "We go to the supermarket or Home Depot [for bread or lumber]," he said. "I like people to have a better sense of how stuff is processed and not take so much for granted." John Lovett, Belvidere, Tenn., was one of the hosts of the turbine workshop at Walnford Park last week. He explained that a turbine does the same thing as a water wheel and was developed in Europe in the late 1820s. The earliest turbines came to this country in the 1830s and were very common by the 1840s-50s, he said. Mills, of course, were dependent on water sources to function. At the workshop, a historic turbine was taken apart and rebuilt so participants could learn how the parts fit together. "The turbines are restored exactly as they were, except for modern materials for the bearings," said Lovett. He said lignum vitae, a Central American wood which may be the densest wood in the world, was used for bearings in the 19th century but has been replaced by modern plastics. The turbines themselves are generally made of cast iron and may last 150 years or more. SPOOM has approximately 1,500 members from all over the world. For more information on the society, visit its Web site at www.spoom.org.