Tours, demos set at historic Joel Hill Sawmill in northern Wayne County, July 13-14

Equinunk Historical Society in northern Wayne County has invited the public to once again step into yesteryear at the water-powered, Civil War-era Joel Hill Sawmill at two open house events the weekend of July 13 and 14.

Their volunteers will conduct demonstration tours of the sawmill and the Thomas Cleveland Museum, which houses late 19th century vintage tools and industrial machinery. Witness how logs were sawed and lumber manufactured at these vintage sawmills that once were common along our streams and tributaries to the Upper Delaware.

The events are scheduled Saturday, July 13, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Sunday, July 14, at 1 p.m. The mill and museum are located off Pennsylvania Route 191 at 736 Duck Harbor Road, Equinunk.

There is no admission charge.

The Joel Hill Sawmill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the application that was filed for the National Register, the original sawmill was built in 1873 by William Holbert and John Branning. Other sources are vaguer, saying it was within a few years following the Civil War.

It was one of several sawmills in the region of Lookout, Equinunk and Pine Mill in northern Wayne.

Wayne County Wanderings:A visit to the Joel Hill Sawmill in Equinunk

In 1898, Joel Gillette Hill (1845-1919) of Damascus Township purchased a tract from the Holbert heirs containing the sawmill, about 1,500 acres of hemlock timber and the 205-acre body of water that's come to be known as Duck Harbor. The Civil War veteran also had a grist mill and pursued dairy farming on the land he cleared. He served six terms as county commissioner, was elected as associate judge of Wayne County and as a Pennsylvania state senator.

The sawmill stayed in operation until the early 1970s. In 1988, the Duck Harbor Company donated the mill to the Equinunk Historical Society.

The Thomas Cleveland Machinery Museum was built in 2018 as an addition to complement the Joel Hill Sawmill.

The 2024 calendar of events for Equinunk Historical Society also includes dates for Joel Hill Sawmill/Cleveland Museum tours and demonstrations on Aug. 10-11 and Oct. 5-6. The Society's main museum, the Calder House, is located in the village of Equinunk at 1972 Pine Mill Road, at the corner with Route 191.

For more information visit equinunkhistory.com/events or call 570-798-2420.

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.