Historic sawmill secures federal grant

Interior view of Slarrow Mill situated on the Sawmill River near the corner of North Leverett and Cave Hill roads in North Leverett. Photographed on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.

Interior view of Slarrow Mill situated on the Sawmill River near the corner of North Leverett and Cave Hill roads in North Leverett. Photographed on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.

Slarrow Mill on the Sawmill River just west of Cave Hill Road in North Leverett. Photographed on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.

Slarrow Mill on the Sawmill River just west of Cave Hill Road in North Leverett. Photographed on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.

Machinery inside Slarrow Mill on the Sawmill River in North Leverett. Photographed on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.

Machinery inside Slarrow Mill on the Sawmill River in North Leverett. Photographed on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.

Slarrow Mill on the Sawmill River in North Leverett as seen from the Cave Hill Road bridge. Photographed on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.

Slarrow Mill on the Sawmill River in North Leverett as seen from the Cave Hill Road bridge. Photographed on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Staff Writer

Published: 09-02-2024 5:24 PM

LEVERETT — A nearly $700,000 grant from the National Park Service, awarded in advance of the country’s semiquincentennial birthday in 2026, will help the nonprofit Friends of North Leverett Sawmill continue to restore the town’s pre-Revolutionary War sawmill.

The $683,500 grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, was announced as part of $10 million going to 19 historic sites and structures, in nine states, on the National Register of Historic Places, all of which are viewed as critical to commemorating the country’s anniversary. The federal agency’s press release highlights both the Leverett site and the San Xavier del Bac, a baroque mission church in the village of Wa:k in Tucson, Arizona.

During a tour of the building and site Friday morning, Leverett Historical Commission Chairwoman Susan Mareneck, who is also a member of the Friends group, said the sawmill is considered a “witness property,” since its 1760s construction predates the founding of the United States.

Susan Lynton, treasurer for the Friends, said outreach done since being formed in 2022, after the building and the 2 ½ acres were donated by the last sawmill operators, the Kirley family, indicates that people want event space for things like concerts, dancing and yoga, and a museum that tells the story of the sawmill.

Inside the 81-foot by 29-foot, post-and-beam building, on fieldstone foundations, the main saw remained functioning until the late 1990s. It was notable for having a log bed that was double the length of others, allowing it to make keels for World War II minesweepers.

“The plan is to keep the saw here and create space for a possible meeting venue and events venue,” said Sid Poritz, president of the Friends.

But Lynton said the money so far will only get the building to a walk-through stage. “While it’s a very large grant, it’s not enough,” Lynton said.

So far, the Friends have more than $1.3 million in hand through that and other grants, including from Greenfield Cooperative Bank and Florence Bank, and a number of private donors.

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“Our goal is to get people from all across the country engaged with us what we are and what we might offer,” Lynton said, observing that the sawmill was part of an industrial corridor.

Marenek said that the section of Leverett was the Silicon Valley of its day, using the most modern technology.   

“We need to keep the energy going and raise funds to see the project through,” said Sam Black, also a member of The Friends.

Following the first phase, which included a structural assessment by engineers, the next phase is to begin undertaking a design proposed by Clark & Green + Bek architects of Great Barrington. For this phase, Black said, it’s about making the sawmill into a three-season building, replacing and repairing the wood siding, refurbishing the wooden windows and providing handicapped accessible parking and making the building accessible. There will also be floor stability improvements and installing folding glass windows to both improve and protect the building’s appearance, having those windows go into large openings where lumber would have been brought into the building.

Currently, those openings are covered by wood and bunting as the town celebrates its 250th anniversary.

The project will also restore electrical service and provide bathrooms.

The main level has been mostly cleared, with a smaller saw and planer still in place, and a work room containing many of the belts that were once attached to the rotary saw and an early vertical saw blade. “Having good functioning belts was an important part of the sawmill,” Poritz said.

On the lower level, much of the infrastructure remains intact, too, including the water-driven turbine, the gears shafts and wheels, all located immediately next to the dam and the mill pond. There is also a room on that level that Poritz said might be appropriate for an art gallery.

Joseph Slarrow, who first owned the building, was a lieutenant in the Continental Army and later captain during the Revolutionary War. It was sold in 1779 to Major Richard Montague, who fought in the French and Indian Wars and later served under George Washington.

“Since its founding, our nation has been shaped by an exceptionally diverse collection of cultures, events, and places,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said in a statement. “The Semiquincentennial Grant Program supports our efforts to present a more complete telling of our country’s history as we approach its 250th anniversary in 2026, and beyond.” 

“Through its connection to the Revolutionary War, its significance as a symbol of the town of Leverett, and its role in creating community, the sawmill has played an integral part in the history of Leverett, and the nation as a whole,” U.S. Rep Jim McGovern said in a statement. 

Additional grants being sought include will MA250 grant from the state’s Office of Travel and Tourism, with plans for an outdoor event next spring that will serve as a reenactment of the sawmill, and partnerships with the Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce and Historic Deerfield.

Associated with the sawmill redevelopment is the ongoing Heritage Park and Nature Trail, which continues to be developed on the west side, with a half-mile loop trail funded by $82,082 from the town’s Community Preservation Act account.

Along the trail will be iron benches, already stored inside the sawmill, and eight information sign boards, outlining the natural and built environments walkers will see, such as the foundation for the Graves Ironworks, where a forge and triphammers shaped agricultural instruments. There are other ruins along the way, including a lengthy stone and earthen berm that rises to 8 feet high. 

The Slarrow Sawmill was one of 15 mills and the last surviving, extending along the river from Lake Wyola in Shutesbury to the Connecticut River.

Black calls the area “lovely and so peaceful.” 

Poritz has been building several boardwalks and bridges that take people on their journey along the Sawmill River. In addition to the benches, more signs will explain the flora and fauna, as well. There will also be a sun garden with native plants and pollinator-friendly bushes, with a work day planned for Sept. 21.

A small swimming hole, formed from a natural ledge extending into the water, provides both a view of the dam, and a place for people and their dogs to cool off.

With the recent removal of the remains of a former sugar shack, the Friends are getting ready to build a handicapped-accessible overlook near an accessible parking area this fall.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.