Sylvanus Selleck Gristmill

Sylvanus Selleck Gristmill is a wooden structure located at 124 Old Mill Road featuring a gabled roof, clapboard siding, and a fieldstone foundation. It sits beside Converse Pond Brook and contains the mechanical elements typical of grain processing mills from its era.

This mill was built in 1796 by farmer Sylvanus Selleck and operated as a working grain mill for many decades. An expansion took place in the 1860s under new management, extending the building's operational life into the late 19th century.

The mill represents how early American farming communities depended on shared processing facilities to turn their harvests into usable grain products. Such buildings were meeting places where farmers gathered and conducted business essential to their survival.

The mill is accessible from Old Mill Road and easily viewed from the roadside to see its architectural features. A walk around the building and along the adjacent stream allows you to appreciate the setting where water once powered the grinding operations.

This structure ranks among very few surviving 18th-century mill buildings still standing in Connecticut. Its timber frame uses old-growth oak and chestnut beams fitted together with traditional brace-frame methods that predate industrial construction techniques.

Location: Connecticut

GPS coordinates: 41.09194,-73.65917

Latest update: December 14, 2025 17:41