The Benjamin Nye Mill Site

This spot is where Benjamin Nye built a grist mill (1669) and later a fulling mill. The grist mill was taken down in 1867. The fulling mill waa converted to a wool carding mill in 1806, which operated into the 1830s. This building was built 8 miles away on the Bumps River in Centerville, MA as a combination gristmill and sawmill in 1858 by Oliver Jones. Members of East Sandwich Grange bought it and moved it here in 1889, and ground grain until 1897, when it was sold to John Armstrong. He converted the mill into an electroplating and jewelry factory, which operated until about 1905, at which time he and John Carleton set up a trout hatchery. The Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife acquired the hatchery in 1912, and ran it until 1990. The site was acquired by the Nye Family of America Association, Inc. in 2009.