Kirby's Mill Dam - Medford, NJ
N 39° 55.016 W 074° 48.313
18S E 516646 N 4418555
A control dam on the South Branch Rancocas Creek protects the NRHP site Kirby's Mill, home of the last working mill in New Jersey. The history of the damn can be traced back to 1778.
Waymark Code: WMA6GF
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 11/23/2010
Views: 6
I ma pretty sure this dam controls the lake in back of Kirby's Mill. Well it is not so much of a lake as it is a wide, circular part of the creek. I saw a few fishermen back there as well.
Kirby's Mill was originally mostly "drowned lands" (lands which flooded at high water). Portions of the drowned areas reached almost into the village of Medford at the Branch Street bridge. In 1877 Kirby's Mill was purchased by William Kirby at which time it was said to be in poor condition. Kirby's Mill was owned entirely by the Kirby family after dissolving a partnership. This dam was probably built or rebuilt in the last couple of decades.
I also learned In 1773 Issac Haines and others petitioned the Assembly to permit the building of a dam to power a gristmill and a sawmill. I think this may be the same damn, just an updated version. The venture was a three-way partnership between Johnathan Haines, his son Issac and Samuel Philips. It was said that the workmen building the mill could hear the roar of the cannon during the battle at Redbank (now National Park) near Gloucester.