Hanford Mill

Hanford Mill is a 50-acre industrial complex at East Meredith, New York, built around a four-story wood-frame mill whose oldest section dates from the 1820s. Later additions came in the 1870s, 1880s and 1900s. The grounds include a raceway, a mill pond, a depot with grain elevator, a hardware store, barns, and a stretch of old railroad. Inside, an overshot steel waterwheel installed in 1925 powered belts that ran lathes, saws, sanders and grindstones, and two steam engines remain. The mill began as a small sawmill and grew after David Hanford bought it in 1860, adding a gristmill and woodworking equipment. Its workers made house parts, patterns for iron castings, and household goods, and the mill once generated electricity for the village. Business declined after World War I, and the mill was sold in 1945. It was listed as a well-preserved example of industrial technology, with machinery and records largely intact.