{"nrhp_refnum":"90001140","name":"Stony Brook Grist Mill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Harbor Rd. W of Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stony Brook","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.91301671250005,"lon":-73.1454589977281,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-08-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2 1/2-story wood-frame grist mill with its sluice, weir, dam and mill pond on Harbor Road in Stony Brook, Suffolk County, New York, originally built about 1750 and enlarged around 1885 and 1925.","why_significant":"The mill retains an original eighteenth-century hewn oak frame and surviving milling machinery from the eighteenth through early twentieth centuries. Its additions record changes in local milling, including a saw mill, wine-making and expanded grain production. It operated commercially until 1939 and was later preserved by Ward Melville.","narrative":"Beside Stony Brook Creek on Harbor Road, this 2 1/2-story shingled grist mill sits within an 11.95-acre property that includes its pond, dam, sluice and weir. The eastern half dates from about 1750 and keeps its hewn oak post-and-beam frame, which is open and undivided on each floor. A lean-to added around 1885 housed wine-making equipment, and about 1925 it was enlarged into a matching western half for grain storage. A mid-nineteenth-century dormer marks the installation of a water-powered grain elevator. The Smith family owned the mill through four generations, from 1692 to 1826. It remained a working commercial mill until 1939. Ward Melville acquired it in 1940 for preservation, and architect Richard Haviland Smythe directed a restoration in 1947. Its framing, machinery and associated water features are the reasons the property was listed. The mill is currently not in use.","period_of_significance":"c. 1750-1939","architect_builder":"Richard Haviland Smythe (architect of the 1947 restoration)","architectural_style":"No style (vernacular mill)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Current function listed as vacant/not in use; the upper floors of the west addition have been renovated as a small dwelling, and the exposed water wheel shows some deterioration.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.442638-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/90001140.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001140/8258e5fbec-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001140/8258e5fbec-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Traitor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stony_Brook_Grist_Mill.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Traitor</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stony_Brook_Grist_Mill.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322272","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stony_Brook_Grist_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q255278"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/stony-brook-grist-mill-90001140/"}