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June 7, 2026
OPEN 1:00–5:00PM | SUNDAYS | MAY–OCTOBER
Guided Tours!
Located on the beautiful banks of the Fenton River in Mansfield, the Gurleyville Grist Mill is the state's only remaining stone grist mill (c.1835). The Grist Mill began as a mill site in the 1720s; it now houses 19th-century machinery. The mill was operated for years by the family of Wilbur Cross, a former Connecticut governor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rycQtGIHKCg
A sawmill was built on this site in 1723 and the grist mill was added around 1750. The latter was replaced in the 1830s by the present mill that continued to operate until 1941. An attached sawmill was destroyed by heavy snow in the early 1950s and the dam was washed out in the winter of 1958-59. It had served for 200 years, and had been repaired and maintained but never modernized. The gristmill itself, constructed of stone, remains in a remarkable state of preservation.
The Grist Mill is built of several types of local rocks: garnetiferous schist, gneiss, granite, pegmatite and quartzite. Inside, the historic mill houses complete, perfectly preserved equipment. Two sets of grinding stones are as they were when last used. Conveying devices, the silk bolter for flour sifting, shafts, and huge gears are intact. Unusual in gristmills is the basement, where a huge water wheel once turned from water diverted under the building from the Fenton River.