Samuel Perry built the quaint little gristmill on the Perryville side of South Kingstown in 1703. I picked this mill because it was close by and I was interested in the mill.

After Samuel Perry died his family did not want the mill so they sold it to the Carpenters and it has been known as the Carpenters' gristmill since 1874. It is a working gristmill where they grind white flint corn. To get enough water pressure from the pond the mill had to be moved back because it used to be drowned out by the swamp which is now a pond. It was moved by Wanton R. Carpenter who brought it in 1825 to its present location today.

In the old days the farmers of South Kingstown brought their white flint corn to the Carpenters' gristmill to be ground. The owner of the mill 's pay was a pound of the white flint corn flour.

 

How the Mill Runs

To run the mill you must first go up to the pond and open the gate to let the water run into a manmade canal. Next you have to rake the leaves out of the canal at the mill because if you didn't rake it, the weeds would get jammed. Did you know that after you rake the leaves out, the water runs into a 12-ft. pit under the mill?

After the water starts flowing and the stone wheel starts turning you pour the white flint corn into a hopper, a box that holds the corn, which lets the corn drop onto the top of the stone. When the corn is ground you turn a steering wheel and it will open a chute and the ground corn will come out. You have to bring it into a sifter and the sifter makes the flour go to the bottom and the bad stuff, pieces of cob, stays on top the sifter. They feed the stuff from the top of the sifter to chickens and the good stuff, the flour, is packaged and sold.

 

Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Smith who let me interview them and my Dad for all the help he gave me.

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