Cooper Mill, NJ

We found the place pretty much by accident. It was on the way to somewhere else. We noted the old stone building with a historical marker set out front. We’d never noticed it previously; maybe, because we’d never stopped at this particular tavern (for lunch) before.

Cooper Mill was across the street. Perhaps, we’d still be clueless if the girl hadn’t seated us by the window. So, after our meal, we decided to go over and have a look. It was a mill alright, with two millstones set out front to weather, and sacks of grain in the windows. There was a wooden aqueduct that funneled in water from a pond across the street, providing power to the big red wheel in back of the building. We would learn that two 2000 lb. millstones still grind significant quantities of grain even today; that this particular stretch along the Black River was particularly well-suited for mills of this type because the river drops a full 20 ft. within a mere half mile. Archaeological exploration of the area discovered no less than 13 sites tied to water-powered industry, among them a second gristmill downstream, a saw mill, a mill to crush apples, one to distill cider into whiskey, and one to process wool.

The people at the visitor center (located just across the parking lot) would have been only too happy to give us a tour of the one remaining (grist) mill. We didn’t want to trouble them. They looked quite delicate, lounging around the old house in their frilly period costumes. It never occurred to us that they might have been bored.

Before leaving, we grabbed a handful of brochures, some of which contained trail maps of the area which, we learned, comprises the Morris County Black River Park System. The trails all begin (if anything can be said to begin anywhere) at Cooper Mill. Chubb Park, the Kay Environmental Center, Bamboo Brook and Willowwood Arboretum are destinations. We walked down as far as the waterfall that marked the end of Kay’s Pond. One of the brochures promised painted turtles sunning themselves on the rocks. We only found the ubiquitous Canada Geese and the occasional reptile.

Eventually, the shadows were beginning to lengthen and we decided to turn back. We didn’t fancy being out in the woods after dark. Even now there were strange rustlings emanating from the brush close beside the path. A discernible chill had descended that made us shudder with each new animal yelp echoing through the distance.

While retracing our steps back to the Mill, our thoughts turned to men like Isaiah Younglove who began a flour milling operation here as far back as the 1760’s; and Nathan Cooper who would go on to populate (what was once called) Milltown with descendants, helping to turn it into a thriving industrial community. These men - the early architects of what would become America’s Industrial Revolution - could hardly have been as squeamish as we, traipsing through this then pathless wood.

Petert Koelliker; pkoelliker8@yahoo.com