Mill Frequency and Sediment Load in Bennington, Caledonia, and Chittenden Counties, Vermont Andrew...

Mill Frequency and Sediment Load in Bennington, Caledonia, and

Chittenden Counties, Vermont Andrew Boule and Miles Sturm

December 10, 2003

How A Mill Works - The Wheel House

- countieschosen forvaryinggeography

-painting ofmills, dams,and ponds

Introduction

Methods

• Looked for mills on Walling’s maps, 1856 - 1858

• Calculated mill frequency for each town (per square mile)

• Looked for relationship between mill frequency andpopulation and relief

• In the field, we looked for sediment deposits behindformer mill sites and other evidence of landscape change

Sample Town – Woodford, 1856

Population:423

Mills:20 saw mills(orange)4 ocher mills and 1 oil mill(pink)

Area: 123.28 sq. km

Mill Frequency:.2028 mills/sq. km(highest of townssampled)

Caledonia County133 mills

14%

4% 1%

81%

Saw Mills

Grist Mills

Woolen Mills

Oil Mills

Chittenden County75 mills

17%

3%4%

76%

Saw Mills

Grist Mills

Woolen Mills

Paper Mills

Bennington County142 mills

3%1%2%

4%

81%

9%

Saw Mills

Grist Mills

Paper Mills

Ocher Mills

Flax Mills

Oil Mills

-predominantly saw mills

Results

-mill frequency Bennington 0.03 /sq km Caledonia 0.03 /sq km Chittenden 0.02 /sq km

Population vs. Mill Frequency

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25

Mill Frequency (mills per square kilometer)

Results

-slight inverse relationship

Burlington

Woodford

1857 1996Jericho

Affect On Stream PathUpon Removal Of Dams

Conclusions

• Higher mill frequency was found in mountains with higher average slope and less population density.

• Sediment trapped behind dam was likely transported downstream after the destruction of the dam.

• Change in Browns River displays the impact humans have on landscape change as far as the construction and destruction of dams

Circa 1895 Yesterday

Old Red Mill, Jericho