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New Roof
Top: Matt Beauregard at work on the north roof in August. Completed south roof in September. Courtesy photo.
WOODSTOCK — This summer the rusted corrugated metal roof that protected West Woodstock’s historic Chamberlin Mill for more than a half century has been replaced with shiny new corrugated metal, as part of an ongoing restoration project for this unique piece of regional history.
The goal of Chamberlin Mill, Inc., the non-profit group responsible for the site, is to preserve the sawmill and return it to operation for public enjoyment. The building, which retains its 19th-century saw, water-driven turbine, gears and pulleys, tells the story of a long stretch of sawmill development. When restored, its saw will be powered by a 1928 Studebaker Straight-Eight engine brought to the site after The Great Flood of 1936 destroyed the Mill’s water power capacity. This engine, which was exposed to the elements for many years before the restoration project began, has been artfully restored by Mystic Seaport volunteers and is ready to power the saw once the building is restored.
Since 2014, when Chamberlin Mill, Inc. was given the site by The Nature Conservancy, work has been underway to return the building to operational condition. Its dry stone foundation has been rebuilt where needed; sills, posts and other timbers replaced; and most recently, its roof has been replaced. This work has been undertaken thanks to generous contributions from Friends of Chamberlin Mill as well as from several grants.
Further work will include repair and reconfiguration of windows and entries, interior and exterior accommodations for visitors, and reconstruction of the saw. Most of the necessary parts are in place, though the Mill is always interested in additional parts for its 1873 Lane #1 circular saw.
Research by architectural historian Myron Stachiw shows the current structure today dates from about 1900, reusing a site that had supported grist and sawmills since the 18th century. Through much of its span, until its sale to The Nature Conservancy in 2009, the site was owned by the Sessions-Stone-Chamberlin family.
Recently uncovered diaries of Frederick Stone from the 1890s have cast light on one significant period of the mill’s operation, including names of local clients, whose barns and other buildings used lumber sawn at the Mill. The diaries also give a sense of the rhythm of a year, in which logs were hauled and sawn in winter and early spring and mill ponds drained for use as hayfields in summer. Maintaining a mill was a perpetual and labor-intensive task. One gains an appreciation for the term “Yankee ingenuity” in reading the diaries, and in seeing the more recent adaptation of the operation to petrol power.
Chamberlin Mill, Inc. is interested in any information that can add to its knowledge of this and other local sawmills — there were many — and to the logging history in the region following the 1938 hurricane. Anyone with memories or material to share is invited to contact
While it will take at least another year before we can hope to see lumber produced at Chamberlin Mill, there will be opportunities this fall to get a sense of the Mill: a booth at Celebrating Agriculture (www.celebratingagriculture.org) on Sept. 22; Studebaker engine demonstration at the Mystic Seaport Antique Vehicle Show (www.mysticseaaport.org) on Sept. 23; engine demonstration at the New England Steam Up (www.newsm.org ) on Sept. 29; and a free Walktober event at the Mill at 2 p.m. Oct. 7 (rain date Oct. 14) (www.chamberlinmill.org). Walktober participants will be introduced to the Mill and its surroundings, walking along unpaved roads bordered by preserved land. Return participants will get a chance to see the Mill’s restoration progress.
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