inlet experienced large tidal runs twice a day. Two wooden gates attached to a footbridge
crossing the inlet impounded the high-tide waters that filled Goldsmith Pond.
For much of its existence, the mill was owned by Mr. Gilbert Terry. Mr. Terry added
a windmill wheel to the top tower sometime in the 1870s, allowing the mill to continue to
produce when the creek was frozen (and possibly during times of temporary inlet
closure). The mill ceased operating when the local money crop changed to potatoes and
cauliflower in the 1890s. Newspaper accounts note, "the channel was allowed to fill up
with sand, seaweed, and mussel shoals" (Comes 1954). A large storm on 26-27
November 1889 caused the windmill wheel to fall, and the mill deteriorated. The
structure was torn down in 1906.
Figure 2-19. Goldsmith Inlet as depicted in NOS T-sheet 55 (1838)
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Chapter 2 Study Area and Physical Setting