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GRIFFINS MILLS

Program
NYS Historic
Subject
Industry & Commerce
Location
1874 Mill Rd, West Falls, NY 14170, USA
Lat/Long
42.72417, -78.6688
Grant Recipient
Griffins Mills Presbyterian Church
Historic Marker

GRIFFINS MILLS

Inscription

GRIFFINS MILLS
GRIST MILL BUILT HERE CA. 1810
OWNED BY GRIFFIN FAMILY AND
LATER BY YAW BROS. SAW MILL,
CARDING MILL, FULLING MILL &
TANNERY ALSO STOOD NEARBY.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2019

This mill site was established by an agent for the Holland Land Company, likely as a way to foster settlement here. Humphrey Smith bought the land in 1806, and not longer after Cazenovia Creek was dammed and a mill built circa 1810. The Griffin family purchased the mill in about 1814. It used multiple flumes to provide power for a saw mill, grist mill, carding mill, and tannery (and a distillery and asheries nearby). It ceased operation in 1959 by the Yaw brothers who had operated it for 56 years. As of 2019, the foundations of the original mill still remained.