{"nrhp_refnum":"74001243","name":"Cold Brook Feed Mill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 8","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cold Brook","county":"Herkimer County","state":"NY","lat":43.23978536100003,"lon":-75.04099873199993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-10-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A simple wood-frame water-powered grist and feed mill on Route 8 just south of the village of Cold Brook, Town of Russia, Herkimer County, New York. The original two-story section was built in 1857 by Ira Torrey, with a later lean-to addition, and the nominated acre includes the mill dam remains and flume.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the mill as a rare survivor of the small hamlet mills that once supplied local flour and feed, because its original equipment remains largely intact. It also reflects the growth of Cold Brook after a road opened in 1808 and the decline of local milling in the face of western competition.","narrative":"Beside a rushing stream on Route 8 just south of Cold Brook village, this weathered wooden mill preserves the working equipment of a small-town grist mill. Ira Torrey built the original two-story section in 1857 to replace an earlier mill dating to about 1811. A lean-to addition later gave the building its square plan. Inside are the original water-powered stone grinder and corn sheller, two buckwheat mills, a wheat flour mill installed during wartime, bolters, separators and grain elevators. A turbine replaced the original wooden water wheel. Outside, remnants of a stone and boulder dam and an iron-hooped wooden flume survive. The mill matters because small community mills once found in nearly every hamlet have almost vanished, and few keep their original machinery. Operations ended by 1929 as western flour and a shift to dairying removed demand for local grinding. The nominated area covers about one acre, including the mill, dam and flume.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Ira Torrey (built the 1857 mill)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition and altered; operations ceased by 1929, and the mill was later opened as an antique shop in 1954. Original equipment remains in place.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.546639-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/74001243.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001243/f12aad8706-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001243/f12aad8706-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cold_Brook_Feed_Mill_Jan_11.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cold_Brook_Feed_Mill_Jan_11.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318118","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Brook_Feed_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5142204"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/herkimer-county/cold-brook-feed-mill-74001243/"}