You may not know this, but Kimball Pond was home to one of the first water-powered corn mills in Dunbarton. The original mill was built in 1771. It was later converted to a saw mill. It burned in 1919.

The mill was located on Black Brook as it flows from Kimball Pond. Today, the substantial cut-stone mill race and building (see photo above) may still be seen to the left in the brook as you drive into the boat launch area. The well-defined cellar hole of the mill owner's or workers' residence may be found immediately to the right of the boat launch drive as you turn into it from Kimball Pond Road.

The old mill foundations are becoming covered with vines, small brush and a few trees.

If you can spare the time to help the Conservation Commission clean these up a bit, we'd appreciate it. Meet at 9 a.m. at the Kimball Pond boat launch on Saturday, May, 6. We'll tackle the project rain or shine.

We suggest bringing gloves, loppers, hand saws, bug dope and wearing long sleeved shirts. Pick-ups are needed to haul the stuff we remove to the transfer station.