Patriot Mill History

         Great Brook was a hub of activity. 22 mills lined the banks of Great Brook from Gregg Lake, this mill being the last. This site has been a hub of manufacturing and invention since Isaak Baldwin built the first mill in 1824.

 Isaak Baldwin came to Antrim in 1795, and settled the first farm in Antrim. He chose this plain for its fertile farmland with rich soil. After some years he decided to build a large two-story blacksmith and general repair shop. In 1833 he took Jonathan White on as an apprentice, and started the manufacture of hoes, being the first in New Hampshire to do so.

 In 1839 Robbins and Flint succeeded them manufacturing $3,000 worth of hoes a year.

 In 1841 Jonathan came back with a new partner named Hiram Eaton. Hiram was a gunsmith and somewhat of in inventor. In three years they were successful enough to build for themselves. Later they were made famous for the invention of the shovel (as we know it). People laughed at them for thinking they could use rolled steel to make shovels, but later on nobody was laughing.

 Later on the shop became tenements, lay vacant, and burnt down in 1867. In 1868 Luke Thompson a tinsmith built a wooden shop on the foundations of the Baldwin’s Mill. There with the help of his son Edward, a printer, he manufactured articles of various kinds. With his sudden death in 1876, Edward carried on the business. He was editor of the Hillsborough Messenger for some time and publisher of the Antrim Home News.

                            (Above) Thompson's Shop circa 1875

 Edward got a reputation for being a mechanical genius. As one of Goodell’s mechanics, Edward with the help of W.H. Boutelle and Frank Hunt were asked to invent an apple peeler compete with those already on the market. The machine they invented was a great success. W.H. Boutelle considered the design his own, and moved to Rochester New York and went into business for himself. Frank Hunt followed the lead and started a peeler business in New York, but Edward being a “shy little man with no interest in success” stayed with Goodell. Goodell was furious, but did nothing about it. Boutelle became rich and sued Frank Hunt for patent infringement. The enraged Hunt, although smart enough to design something different, chose to fight Boutelle in a legal battle. Frank Hunt was crushed by the expense and died soon after. Boutelle reminiscently said before he died “We were all such good friends when we started: to thing it came to this, when there was market enough for all of us”.

 Through Edwards’s loyalty he became a great friend of Goodell. In 1892 Thompson constructed a dynamo at Goodell’s, which produced 110 volts of electricity, and operated two bulbs each of thirty-two-candle power, which Henry Hurlin pronounced “shed the clearest and steadiest light I have ever seen –better than daylight”

              (Above) Diagram of Goodell's Mills in the Lower Village

            (Above) Thompson's Shop under ownership of Goodell

In 1895 Thompson’s Mill was sold to Goodell. He tore it and only left the chimney. Goodell built the new building using the old chimney from Thompson’s shop on the foundations leading back to Baldwin’s shop in 1824, an example of Goodell’s thrifty nature. The new building was built with unusually high quality. Rarely would such a small building be constructed so well. The walls were made out brick, with granite mantles, and hurled granite for the foundation. The inside used massive beams, a foot thick and 25ft long. A then “state-of-the-art” turbine was fitted. 

                           The "Cucumber Shop" circa 1895

         It was a messy workplace. Workers from the town came to man the machines that turned the boards into knife blank. Cocobolo dust was everywhere and the sound of cutting blades was prevalent. A lady was rumored to have moved from the city to a house nearby. When her husband came home from work, she announced that it was too loud and she would not stay their moment longer! Then men came home from work each evening brown with dust.

 The new mill gained the bizarre name of “The Cucumber Shop”. Many theories account for how it got its name. One suggests that the foreman, an Italian, asked permission if he could grow some cucumbers at the back. When a visitor came he was greeted by the foreman, between munches of a giant cucumber. The visitor exclaimed, “this is not a cocobolo shop, it’s a d-m cucumber shop”!

 When the mill was sold off and went through a multitude of new owners. The condition gradually deteriorated. Through the 80’s and 90’s it seemed that the mill was changing hands every couple years. The present owner bought the property in a neglected state, and pursued gradual restoration to its present condition. 

                                                 The mill today