Portions Of Historic Old Mill Shipped Off-Island For Restoration Work

"You don't see that every day," remarked island resident Blair Perkins upon spotting a peculiar item strapped to the back of a flatbed truck aboard a ferry leaving Nantucket last Sunday.

Days after the Old Mill on Prospect Street was partially disassembled to allow a major restoration project to continue, portions of the historic structure were shipped off-island aboard the Steamship Authority's car ferry, the M/V Woods Hole.

While the massive tail pole and cap of the Old Mill are now perched on cribbing beside the base of the structure, its large brake wheel, wallower gear, and vertical drive were all shipped to the mainland.

The Nantucket Historical Association's contractor on the project, Husk Preservation," took the large 'brake wheel' gear and the brake strap that wraps around it with us," according to Husk Preservation millwright Amy Boyce, who is leading the restoration effort. "We also took the wallower gear, which is the one that looks like a lantern or bird cage, and its associated vertical drive with us. We also took two timbers from the A-frame that supported the tail pole. We brought these things with us because we had our vehicles with us. We can better study them with more time, we can order and do an initial milling of the timbers needed for repair, and begin seasoning these timbers, which is essential. Work done in the workshop is more affordable and more precise and has better outcomes than on-site work."

Built in 1746 and purchased by the Nantucket Historical Association in 1897, the Old Mill is believed to be the oldest working mill in the United States—although it is not working at the moment, and hasn’t been for over two years. The mill underwent major restorations in 1930, 1936 and 1983, but the latest restoration has turned out to be much more involved than the Nantucket Historical Association anticipated.

When repairs first began in 2024, the Nantucket Historical Association expected that they would be complete in less than a year. But the non-profit soon learned that the work would be much more complicated than it had planned for, and the project has now stretched into its third year, leaving one of Nantucket’s most recognizable structures bare, without shingles or sails.

With the removal of the cap and tail pole completed, a temporary roof built by Barber & Sons was installed atop the mill to protect the inside from the weather during preparations for the next phase of restoration, which could take some time.

Meanwhile, the Nantucket Historical Association has also commissioned a dendrochronologist to date the timbers used in the Old Mill in an effort to determine how old the wood is and where it may have initially come from.