Circa 1810 Center Hall Colonial with 5 Bedrooms and 3 Baths, with early addition. Period charm with modern amenities. 8.32 surveyed acres along Kline Kill Creek. Early (1800's) 3 story Grist Mill (Brookside Flour and Feed Mill) with many artifacts still remaining. 1,100 sq. ft. shop/garage plus a 6,000 sq. ft. commercial building with elec., water, & heat, currently rented to marine repair facility. (all out buildings have electric). Wonderful property for both residential or commercial uses. Come take a look. Additional 16.73 acres available
1810 COLONIAL - ROOMS AND LOCATIONS: Total Rooms - 12
First Floor: Bath (Full), Family Room (14x20 w/fire place), Living Room (17x20 w/ fire place(not used)), Dining Room (17x20 w/ fire place), Kitchen (Eat-in 10x20), Den/Office (8x10), Other Room (Laundry 8x10)
Second Floor: Bedroom 1 (17x20), Bedroom 2 (10x20), Bedroom 3 (14x10), Bedroom 4 (14x10), Bath (2 - full), Other Room (Master B/R)
Other Floor: Other room (Basement work room 17x20)
The only standing mill in Ghent and one of the oldest in the county is the Brookside Flour and Feed Mill, built on the Kline Kill, not far from where the Union Turnpike crossed the creek. The exact date for the construction of the mill is unknown, but its pegged, post-and-beam construction suggests that it may have been built by the first occupant of the mill privilege, Samuel Coleman (died ca. 1825).
Coleman was a Nantucket "mariner," according to the first deed to the property in 1809. He purchased the property from Paul Coleman of Hudson, and Thaddeus Coleman of Claverack, possibly his brothers, suggesting that his family had preceded him to Columbia County. Coleman was a Quaker and was one of the early members of the Ghent Meeting. Phoebe Coleman must have continued to operate the mill after her husband's death about 1825. In 1850, she sold the mills (then including a plaster and grist mill) to Jacob Spangler (died 1867). Spangler, in the 1850 Census of Industry, reported employing three men to produce 1500 barrels of flour, valued at $18,000.
After Spangler's death, the property passed through several different hands until it was acquired by Elliot N. Garner, who must have given the mill its name, "Brookside Flour and Feed Mill," the name by which it is identified on fire insurance maps of the town. A bag stencil found in the mill reads "Ghent Mill/196/Knickerbocker Best Rye Flour/Ghent, N.Y." The property went through several more owners, but the last to operate the mill, in 1898, was Catherine B.G. Yeisley.
Most of the later owners appear to have used the mill simply for storage purposes, as the property was a successful farm for several more years. Opposite the mill still stands a seven-bay saltbox, possibly dating from Coleman's period, and an extensive series of barns was located behind the house. Walter C. Winn owned the property from 1917 until it was purchased by Chester A. Reeds, curator of the American Museum of Natural History, in 1932. Reeds died in 1969, and the house and mill were purchased by their present owner in 1973.
Since 1978, the first floor of the mill has housed a boating supply house, Brook Cove Marine. The 2-1/2 story mill is approximately 50 x 32 feet in plan with a steeply pitched gable roof and roof dormer grain hoistway. The original wood-crib dam, 16 feet in height, has been long washed out, and most evidence of the watercourses have been removed by successive repairs to the stone foundations of the mill. Sanborn insurance plans show that the water turbine was located in the east corner of the basement, nearest the dam, and some vertical and horizontal shafting still survives leading from this point. Also still in place are portions of the original grain elevators.
OTHER INFORMATION:
If you would like more information on this unique property, please call Richard Faust at 518-392-2113, email him at: RVFaust@yahoo.com, or fill out the form below.
