Question: Being a part-time Harpswell resident, I have always been interested in Harpswell history. Our place is on Basin Cove, and from what I was told, there used to be a tidal grist mill at the entrance. I was wondering about the mill, where the grain came from, where the flour went, how long it was in operation, and when. Was there more than one? Why did it shut down?
Ted Goulette, South Harpswell and Plainfield, Vermont
Answer: Yes, there was a tidal grist mill in Basin Cove in the mid- to late 1800s. Known as the Basin Cove Tide Mill, it was the largest such mill in Harpswell.
According to the Maine-based Tide Mill Institute, the mill was established in 1867. It was owned by George W. True & Co., a Portland-based wholesale grain dealer.
The mill, which stood on pilings above the water, was three stories tall with a footprint of about 2,250 square feet. It contained three pairs of granite millstones, each about 8 feet in diameter and 1 foot thick.
It milled mostly corn and could grind up to 600 bushels daily. The mill used tidal power to grind grain that was shipped in by coastal vessels and unloaded directly at the building.
“(The) Basin Cove tide mill continued to grind grain until 1885, when a combination of circumstances made its further operation unprofitable,” the institute’s database says.
There were at least four other tide mills operating in Harpswell during the same period, most of them in sheltered coves around Great Island, including two in Hen Cove.
By the late 1800s, these mills shut down as technological changes made small, tide-powered operations less competitive. Cheaper grain and flour could be shipped in from larger, steam-powered mills elsewhere, reducing the economic need for local grinding.
J. Craig Anderson, Reporter, Harpswell Anchor
Send “Ask the Anchor” questions to joliver@harpswellanchor.org.
