FROM THE SCHS LIBRARY ARCHIVES

"How shall we know it is us without our past?" - John Steinbeck

The Old Red Mill in Springtime, Riverhead

by Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Librarian

The Old Red Mill in Springtime, Riverhead. Image from the SCHS Carleton Kelsey Postcard Collection; copyright © Suffolk County Historical Society. All rights reserved.

The Little Red Mill is generally credited by historians as being the first saw mill ever erected on Long Island. Some time before about 1659, when Riverhead was part of Southold, John Tucker received permission from the Southold Town authorities to set up the mill. According to the Southold Town Records:

"At a meetinge of the Towne John Tucker propounded for liberty to sett upp a saw mill inplace most convenient within the Towne bounds neer the head of the River [Riverhead] and liberty to cutt all sorts of timber.... The [permission for Tucker to build the saw mill] was granted...uppon his promise [that] the Towne of Southold should be first from tyme to tyme supplyed with boards for every mans particular use..." (Vol. 1, p. 102).

For 250 years the Peconic River provided power for milling operations. The first, the Little Red Mill or Tucker's saw mill, was followed by grist mills, more saw mills, planing and moulding mills, a paper mill, a woolen mill, a fulling mill (where the newly woven wool was scoured), a flour mill, a sorghum mill, and eventually an electric power plant. Riverhead once had a hamlet named Upper Mills, which tooks its name from the several mills located on the upper part of the Peconic River.

On Friday, March 11, 1938, the Riverhead News declared "Little Red Mill, Old Landmark Is Disappearing--Quaint Structure Believed to Be First 'Business' Building in Riverhead." The mill on Peconic Avenue was demolished by its owner, Frank Woodhull, to permit the extension of a newer building, the Riverhead Auto Parts.

INFO. SOURCES:  "A Brief History of Early Riverhead Town," by Justine W. Wells (1992); "Peconic River Mills and Industries," by Edna Howell Yeager (1965).

SOME PAST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

The Suffolk County Historical Society’s PHOTO OF THE WEEK Series is created by librarian Wendy Polhemus-Annibell using historic primary source materials from our local history library’s extensive archives. To subscribe, visit our website or send an email request to Wendy at wannibell@schs-museum.org

• Long Island's Suffragists, 1913
• Pocahontas Pharoah, Montauketts, 1878-1963
• Elinor Smith, Long Island Aviator, 1911-2010
• Nine Men on an Iceberg, Patchogue, 1907
• Samuel Ballton of Greenlawn, 1838-1917
• Slaves Burying Ground, Orient
• Valentine's Day Postcards, Early 1900s
• Pyrrhus Concer, Southampton, 1814-1897
• Montauk Fishing Club, 1918
• Northport Harbor, View from Greenlawn, 1903
• Huntington High School Baseball Team, 1911
• Prince and Hommel Bldg After Snow, 1898
• Blue Point - Hunters and Shack, Feb. 1903
• Temple Mishcan Israel, Sag Harbor, c. 1900
• Oyster Bay Cove with Stranded Schooners, 1900
• Babylon: Fire Tornament and Race, c. 1899
• Thanksgiving Postcards, 1916
• Port Jefferson Boat Storehouse, 1897
• Helen Keller at Riverhead High School, 1933
• Medford Boy Scout Troop, 1917
• Elisha Wells Civil War Portrait, 1864
• The East Moriches Eagle, 1923
• SCHS Labor Day Float, Riverhead, 1928
• Donaldson's General Store, Hauppauge, 1906
• LIRR Experimental Farm Exhibit at Brooklyn YMCA, 1910
• Edward Thompson Fishing from Daniel Webster's Bridge, Smithtown, May 1903
• Judge Griffing, Grangebel Park, Riverhead, 1908
• Montauk Lighthouse & Wainscott Mill, c. 1922
• Mattituck High School Class of 1918
• Avery's Beach, Blue Point, 1912
• Manor of St. George Patent, 1697
• Capt. Henry Green, 1824
• Walt Whitman, 1819-1892
• Camp Dunes: Lake-by-the-Sea, Peconic, c. 1920s
• Central Islip School, c. 1898
• Lady Suffolk, the Old Gray Mare from Commack
• Oyster Sloops at New Suffolk, c. 1900
• The Gates to Sagtikos Manor, West Bay Shore, 1950s
• Vanderbilt Cup Race, Jericho, 1904
• Memorial Day, Riverhead, 1920
• Long Dock, Patchogue, 1898
• Sag Harbor Toll House, 1800s
• Tuthill House, Jamesport, 1880s
• LIRR Train to Wading River, 1906 
• Greenport Group Portrait, 1890s
• Riverhead Fire Dept. Brass Band, 1910
• Riverhead Woman's Club Spring Luncheon, 1933
• L.I. Women's History: Edith Loring Fullerton (1876-1931)
• Long Island Suffrage Wagon, c. 1913
• Pero, a Southold Slave: Receipt and Manumission Promise by Thomas Youngs, 1818
• Blooming Roses on Arbors, Medford, c. 1916
• The Schooner Long Island on Grass at Inlet, Sea Cliff, 1897
• Scooter Race on Bellport Bay, c. 1900
• Cottage on Banks of Titus Mill Pond, Centerport, c. 1904

Interested in seeing more historical photos from the Collection of the Suffolk County Historical Society? Spend an afternoon at our Local History Library perusing our extensive archival photography collections. We're open Weds. - Sat., 12:30 - 4:30 PM.

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE

The Suffolk County Historical Society, founded in 1886, collects and preserves the rich history of Suffolk County and beyond. We offer a history museum, an expansive research library and archives, and a multitude of exhibits, programs, and educational lectures and workshops year-round. Our unique collections reflect more than three centuries of Long Island history.  Click here for Member Benefits!

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