In a town as old as ours there are many locations that have gone through changes. In the center of town, the building created to hold the” Academy” is the current church vestry. Streams dammed for foundries later powered sawmills.
One such place off of Rte. 105 has been home to some very disparate uses. Today, on the left as you head towards Marion, you pass the “Pines at Hathaway Pond”, a residential development begun in the early 2000’s. However, the pond’s creation goes back to the early 1700’s. It was then that Joseph Burge built a small mill called the “Sippican Mill.” The mill was only in operation for 20 years, but it is safe to credit him with the damming of the river to create the pond.
Others took over the mill with little success. At one time the property was owned by Theophilus Pease. Later, Joseph Smith built the first gristmill in Rochester Center in 1803 on the site of the old mill.
The gristmill and later sawmill had many shareholders who had various rights of flowage and to the mill pond stream, the dam, flume raceway and mill yard. These rights were accrued through labor and/or the advance of money for building and equipment.
There is an 1852 deed at Town Hall for David Lewis that gave him three undivided parts of the corn (gristmill) on the river along with the corresponding parts of the dam and water rights.
The Hathaway name, still in use today, was that of Capt. Judah Hathaway who came into his 7/8 of the corn and 1/3 of the sawmill through his marriage to Hannah Ellen Lewis, daughter of David Lewis. The Hathaways lived at 56 Marion Rd., and he ran the sawmill into the 1900’s.
A very different use of the property came along in more modern times. The Knight and Look Campground with its motto, Family Camping at its “BEST” under “Tall Pines” became a destination for seasonal trailers, small campers and tents. In its heyday, on a bluff over the pond or tucked into the trees, campers could enjoy the 50 ft. swimming pool, play horseshoes, softball or basketball. For many years it was a true family camping experience with some returning year after year. There were community dances and dinners along with campfires under the trees. Of course, there was JJ, the resident swan.
This all ended on Oct.11, 2004, when owner Janice Look closed the campground and sold the large property to the Hartley-Zell Housing association for $1,325 million. One long time camper said the closing was like the “breaking up of a family.”
After an extensive cleanup in which the sign of the campground rules was liberated from a trash can, the creation of The Pines at Hathaway Pond began. This brings us up to the present day and the realization that the one constant in this spot has been the pond, dammed so long ago by Joseph Burge.
By Connie Eshbach