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Restoration work at the Asbury Mill was largely a local effort
with most participants coming from the mill's own state of New Jersey.
All were keenly interested in learning more about mills as well
as building conservation techniques.
The Asbury Mill was built along the Musconetcong River in 1863,
on the site of a pre-Revolutionary mill. The building was converted
from a flour mill to a graphite mill in 1895, and is considered
to be one of the few adaptations of water power to an important
twentieth century industry. The Asbury Graphite Company operated
the mill until the 1980's, and production continues across the river
at a 1930's plant. The non-profit Musconetcong Watershed Association
assumed ownership of the mill in 1999.
The
mill's interior is as it was when production ended, complete with
a comprehensive coating of graphite. A full tour and exploration
of the site was accompanied by history of the milling process and
equipment. Restoration work done to date was also explained. That
work had begun two years before with removal of the dormer and fire
escape, flashing and capping of the chimney, and increasing support
of the slate roof by lifting and reinforcing rafters. The building
is structurally sound and the goal of restoration is to make it
a museum illustrating the industrial heritage of the Musconetcong.
One
of the goals of the workshop was the documentation of the rare water
turbine that powered the mill. Despite sending several participants
through the mill race and descending to the lowest levels of the
structure from inside, safe access was not possible. Participants
then ventured into the cool water of the Musconetcong looking for
artifacts. Several large pieces of mill stone were found and some
of the archaeologists wanna-bes and puzzle masters in the group
tried to piece them all together.
The
fieldstone building is in need of major repointing work. Sections
have in the past been stuccoed over with Portland cement. All that
incompatible material will need to be removed. Fortunately, there
are also large sections of original stucco in very good condition.
Various options were discussed regarding overall building treatment,
including leaving all the original sound stucco, removing the deteriorated
stucco and Portland cement, cleaning and repointing all the exposed
stone.
That
work will take considerable effort, but the HCN group, after learning
how to mix the appropriate mortar, was able to clean and repoint
a large section of the upper front gable. They also removed Portland
cement from and repointed a section on the side wall. A large void
in the second floor wall was filled, which was actually the flue
for the chimney. This was done in order to prevent more water from
coming in and damaging the masonry.
In order to learn more, the group visited two other mills, the
meticulously restored and fully functioning Cooper Grist Mill in
Chester and the Obadiah La Tourette Mill
in Long Valley, which was the site of an HCN workshop in 2002.
Photos copyright Mark Slater, Jamie
Donahoe
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