The History of Old Mill Crossing

Originally known as the old grist mill, was first mentioned in a deed from 1709 and stood in the same place Old Mill Crossing store now stands. Directly behind the building is Mill Pond, which provided the water power necessary to turn the mill stones.

An old grist mill, general store, post office, farm, town clerk's office, church and library comprised the nucleus of the village of Cross Mills in the late 1800's and early twentieth century.

The village derived its name from the Peleg Cross family who operated the grist mill in the early nineteenth century according to William Franklin Tucker in his Historical Sketch of the Town of Charlestown in Rhode Island from 1636 to 1876. Tucker writes regarding the mill:

The first information relating to a grist mill, is found on record in Ninigret's deed to the colony, dated March 28, 1709. This mill then belonged to Joseph Davill, and was located on the brook at Cross Mills, where the present one stands; but I am unable to find in my present researches, the exact date when the mill was first built ... This is the only grist mill in the town, and Peleg Cross and his heirs have held possession of it for a long time; it has, however, changed hands since the death of George W. and Joseph H. Cross and it is now owned by Alfred Collins and Benjamin B. Greene.

This same grist mill was owned in the late 1800's and until 1920 by Benjamin F. Greene, affectionately known as "Bif" and until 1930 by Benjamin C. Gavitt.

The Alfred Collins farm stood diagonally across from the mill; the property where this farm was once located is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert N. Clarke.

Immediately adjoining the mill is a barn and shed where the horse and wagons belonging to townspeople were hitched while they waited for their grain to be ground. Behind the mill lies the Mill Pond which then provided the water power necessary to turn the huge mill stones.

In 1906, boiling tar and crushed stone were rolled there.

After retiring from the sea in 1920, Mr. Gavitt took over the operation of Bif Greene's grist mill, having been taught by the master miller himself. The mill had become somewhat dilapidated so Ben

repaired it and reshingled the roof.

He sold Rhode Island white corn meal in three pound packages under the label "Ben's Corn Meal." Mr. Gavitt recalls the horses and wagons waiting in the mill shed while their owners grain was ground, store trading completed or liquor quaffed at the neighboring

"rum shops." At this time, the post office and another general store

were located in Card's Hall.

Provender was ground for the livestock: corn and oats or a whole wheat and rye combination resulted. Grains for flour were ground separately. From the bushel that was ground, the miller took a four quart toll to pay for his services.

The mill was powered in the early twenties by a water driven undershot paddle wheel. Later, a turbine wheel with a twenty-two horsepower engine replaced it. The mill stones were made from field granite; one inch of stone would wear away every fifty years of use.

Ben replaced the top runner with a new stone and placed the worn mill stone on the bottom to serve as a bedstone. The runner had to be thicker, he explains, in order to absorb the heat produced by the friction of grinding. The bedstone now on Ben's lawn is marked 1844.

During this same period of time, Ben also operated the general store formerly owned by Bif Greene in Cross Hall. He sold the same type of items with the exception of dry goods. Molasses and vinegar he purchased by the barrel while the kerosene arrived at the store by means of a horse-drawn tanker.

While Ben still operated his store at Cross Hall, band concerts were held every Wednesday evening during the summer.

Ice cream and twenty cent lobster rolls could be purchased from Ben's store. Cars were parked at the Cross Mills Baptist Church and on the piece of land now occupied by the Cross Mills General Store.

Ben recalls that these concerts were events of great festivity and enjoyed immensely by town residents.

At one time, Ben also operated a bake shop in the house next to the grist mill and a garage at the site of a former blacksmith shop on the opposite side of the grist mill, on the north corner. The bake shop produced breads, pies and rolls and often filled special orders.

In the spacious kitchen of the Mill House, the baking was done by two women. The stove had double ovens and burned both coal

and wood.

Beside the Mill House, an ice house was located, while others were found at the grist mill on King Tom Farm and the Kenyon home. Ben recalls helping to fill the ice house at King Tom Farm but never remembers the grist mill operating.

The Cross Mills Grist Mill operated until 1930 when Ben completed construction of a new general store across Old Post Road from the Mill Pond. This building still functions as the Cross Mills General Store, owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Fredrick Main.

Subsequently, for two or three months, the grist mill was under the direction of another gentleman. Shortly after this purchase, the mill ceased to operate.

At his new location in Cross Mills, Ben continued to operate a diesel powered mill. At one time he sold 1,800 packages of corn meal a week and worked fifteen to eighteen hours a day. When summer proved to be extremely busy, he closed the store at nine in the evening and ground corn meal until one in the morning.

The corn meal business, once so prosperous, dwindled when President F.D. Roosevelt urged the subsidizing of potato crops. Corn plantation was virtually abandoned.

Ben dismantled his grist mill in 1952 and the store was sold in

later years.

In addition to his many services to the town, Ben also kindled the fires in the library and the Baptist Church where his wife, Bessie Cross Gavitt served respectively as town librarian until 1959 and church organist for many years.