NRHP Reference # 88000184 Added to NRHP 18 March 1988 | Area 1 ha | |
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Location John Hatch Park, south of Wiswall Road just east of the Lamprey River, Durham, New Hampshire | ||
The Wiswall Falls Mill Site (site 27-ST-38) is a historic archaeological industrial site in Durham, New Hampshire. It is located in John Hatch Park, a small public park just south of Wiswall Road on the eastern bank of the Lamprey River. The 3-acre (1.2 ha) site encompasses the remains of a small 19th-century mill complex. Included in this site are the foundational remnants of a sawmill, paper mill, dam, power canal, and a variety of ancillary structures. Significant industrial activity began here in 1835, when Moses Wiggin built a timber crib dam across the Lamprey River, and erected a sawmill. The power canal and paper mill were built in 1854 by Thomas Wiswall. The paper mill burned in 1883, and the sawmill was abandoned after flooding breached the dam. The remains of this dam are partially visible upstream of the current (1912) dam.
The site was adapted in 1900 for the production of hydroelectric power. This included the construction in 1912 of the present concrete dam. This facility was abandoned in the 1940s, and the impoundment was later used by the town as part of its water supply. The town acquired the property in 1967, and has landscaped it to present some of the architectural remnants of the mills which operated here.
The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.