Remnants of last remaining grist mill in Paramus return home
PARAMUS ― Remnants of one of the last remaining grist mills that used to line the Saddle River have finally made their way home.
The Paramus "Fritz Behnke" Historical Museum unveiled a new outdoor exhibit in front of its building on Tuesday evening, showcasing the last remaining pieces of the Hopper-Van Riper-Baldwin-Blauvelt Grist Mill.
The pieces of the 190-year-old grist mill, which was used to grind grains into flour, include a turbine shaft, a flywheel, a turbine water wheel and a millstone etched with the initials "A.H." in recognition of the mill’s original owner, Albert Hopper.
The grist mill used to stand next to the Saddle River on the corner of Midland Avenue and Paramus Road, one of two dozens that lined the county waterways. The grist mill was originally built in 1832 by Hopper, who operated the mill until his death in 1846. The mill was in operation until 1915, when a lack of grain caused it to cease operations.
The mill was a cornerstone of the farming community at the time, with farmers relying on it to grind their grain into flour for meals. In 1932, the then-owner, J. Henry Blauvelt "refitted" the mill as a changing area after converting the property to the Paramus Bathing Beach. The area is now home to one-family houses near Midland Avenue and Paramus Road.When the property was sold by the Blauvelt family to Emerald Development Co. in 1981, the owners later moved the mill, in 1988, to the Wild Duck Pond Park in Ridgewood, where it was planned to be turned into a museum. However, a fire destroyed the mill fourth months later.
Around six years ago when a member of the Fair Lawn Historical Committee visited the museum, he mentioned he had noticed remnants of the mill in the woods near the Ridgewood duck pond, said Bill Leaver, curator of the museum.
“Nobody knew what they were and why they were there,” said Leaver.
Recognizing they were pieces of the old grist mill, the museum went to work getting permission from the county to move the items back to the mill's hometown. For a long time, the pieces sat in the back of the museum as the staff figured out the best way to display them for the public. Plans for a concrete pad in the back were thrown around, but Leaver believed nobody coming to the museum would ever see it there.
Frank Behnke, the museum's president, said it's fun to reminisce with old-timers in the community about local history, but mentioned that the audience is changing and it was important for the younger generation to learn more about the borough's roots, of which the mill was an important part.
"You're trying to describe how to grow corn, cabbage and tomatoes before all these highways came in," said Behnke. "It's a different audience, but that's our job."
County Executive Jim Tedesco, who is also a former Paramus mayor, said he was happy that the county could give back the artifacts. He said he remembers witnessing the mill being moved to Ridgewood in 1988, when wires and trees were removed from Paramus Road to make way for the building.
"You're keeping our history alive," Tedesco said.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paramus NJ: Remnants of last remaining grist mill back home
