Mountain Mills and Deerfield River Railroad Tale
The Mount ain Mills complex near Wilmington Valley once fueled by the Deerfield River era spanned 1890s to 1910s. Pioneered by the Newton brothers from Holyoke, the town grew around a 75 acre reservoir, groundwood pulp and hardwood operations, and a 41 mile narrow gauge logging railroad that carried logs to Readsboro and Somerset.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Harriman Reservoir
Wilmington
Mountain Mills
Lake Whitingham
Newtons
Holyoke
Mass
Massachusetts
Vermont
Deerfield
Readsboro
U.S
Hoosac Tunnel
Hoot, Toot & Whistle
Searsburg
Somerset
Ht&w
Joseph Gilbert Jr
Orono
Joe
Boston
Troy
N.Y
Mountain Mills Remembered in Deerfield Valley History
The narrative traces Mountain Mills from its rise as a 1912 industrial complex with payrolls toping at 1050 for machinists and 900 for engineers to its decline after 1920 as New England Power Co gained control. It recalls Amos Blandin, the Ludington veneer mill, the 1913 fire, dam-building, pulp operations, and the region’s eventual flood and rail shutdown, ending with a reflection on the area’s remaining hardwoods and the Deerfield River Railroad's fate.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Joe Gilbert
Mountain Mills
Joe
Newtons
West Branch
Rudyard Kipling
Brattleboro
Deerfield
Maine
Wilmington Village
Ht&w
Timberlands
Amos Blandin
Deerfield Lumber Co
Deerfield River Co
Filer
Stowell
George Boyd
Deerfield Woods
Somerset
Peck
Sutton
Nate Johnson
New York City
Boston
Bill Erhart
Deerfield River Railroad Co
W.H. Wood
Amos N. Blandin
Ray Gile
Jack Hogan
Woodstock
N.H
Tudor Mill
Somerset Dam
Deerfield River RR
Quebec
Mountain
Herb Medbury
Shay
Earl Rufus
Mike Boyd
Skidder Point
George Lyons
Ricker
Fred Bagley
Searsburg
Peck Branch
Leo Thibodeau
Shep Meadow
George Clark
Glastonbury
Henry Wager
William Harrison
Camp 4
Engine 4
Upper Valley
Ludington Co
Michigan
New England Hardwood Co
Herbert S. James
Publishers’ Paper Co
George B. James
New Hampshire
Granite State
George Green
Woodstock Lumber Co
Herbert Jones
Ledger
William Erhart
Peck’s
First National Bank of Boston
George Lewis
Fran Scherster
Jim Bristol
Wilmington
Camp 5
Joe Beto
Martin Brown
Woods
Finn Employment Agency
Clarence Budington Kelland
Deerfield Camps
Parker-Young Co
Deerfield Lumber Corp
Deerfield Pulp Co
Parker- Young Co
New England Co
Henry Harriman
New England Power Co
Pike
Deerfield Valley Paper Co
Harriman
New England Power
National Forest
Glastonbury Timberlands Inc
Mountain Millis
Deerfield River
Also Mentioned on This Page
Upper Deerfield Wal
Vermont Forests and Parks Department
Gove
Banner
William G. Gove
Hoosac
Earl Rufus Jr
Baldwin No. 2
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!