Mill Frequency and Sediment Load in Bennington, Caledonia, and

Chittenden Counties, Vermont Andrew Boule and Miles Sturm

December 10, 2003

How A Mill Works - The Wheel House

- countieschosen forvaryinggeography

-painting ofmills, dams,and ponds

Introduction

Methods

• Looked for mills on Walling’s maps, 1856 - 1858

• Calculated mill frequency for each town (per square mile)

• Looked for relationship between mill frequency andpopulation and relief

• In the field, we looked for sediment deposits behindformer mill sites and other evidence of landscape change

Sample Town – Woodford, 1856

Population:423

Mills:20 saw mills(orange)4 ocher mills and 1 oil mill(pink)

Area: 123.28 sq. km

Mill Frequency:.2028 mills/sq. km(highest of townssampled)

Caledonia County133 mills

14%

4% 1%

81%

Saw Mills

Grist Mills

Woolen Mills

Oil Mills

Chittenden County75 mills

17%

3%4%

76%

Saw Mills

Grist Mills

Woolen Mills

Paper Mills

Bennington County142 mills

3%1%2%

4%

81%

9%

Saw Mills

Grist Mills

Paper Mills

Ocher Mills

Flax Mills

Oil Mills

-predominantly saw millsResults

-mill frequency Bennington 0.03 /sq km Caledonia 0.03 /sq km Chittenden 0.02 /sq km

Population vs. Mill Frequency

010002000300040005000600070008000

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25Mill Frequency (mills per square kilometer)

Results

-slight inverse relationship

Burlington

Woodford

1857 1996Jericho

Affect On Stream PathUpon Removal Of Dams

Conclusions

• Higher mill frequency was found in mountains with higher average slope and less population density.

• Sediment trapped behind dam was likely transported downstream after the destruction of the dam.

• Change in Browns River displays the impact humans have on landscape change as far as the construction and destruction of dams

Circa 1895 Yesterday

Old Red Mill, Jericho