New Marlborough Land Trust Lower Carroll Mill

627 Mill River Southfield Rd, New Marlborough, MA

About Lower Carroll Mill

The Lower Carroll Mill provides a trip back in time to 19^th-century New Marlborough when it was a bustling paper mill town. A quarter-mile trail meanders down to the Konkapot River, where the remnants of the Lower Carroll Mill can be studied and explored up close. The mill was part of the Carroll family's three paper mills in the village of Mill River, with the lower mill specializing in manila paper production for most of its lifespan. The company closed in 1884. Although many mills in Western Massachusetts remain intact, the Lower Carroll Mill is only a skeleton of what it used to be. Since no photographs of the mill exist, visitors are left only to imagine what it might have looked like when it was operational.

The three foundational areas of the mill can all be observed and explored up close. One of these areas is the wheel pit, located closest to the river, where the waterwheel provided the power necessary for paper production. Another foundational area is highlighted by commanding 27-foot stone pillars that supported the heavy machinery atop the ground floor, while the other foundation is divided into 10 walled chambers with no doors or windows. A plaque at this foundation outlines how the mill's operations worked.

To access the site, a trailhead at the rear of the Mill River Cemetery enters the forest. It crosses over a small stream on a picturesque log bridge before descending about 100 feet to the river, where the mill's remains come into view. Those looking to explore more of the Berkshires can continue past the mill into the Goodnow Preserve, where many miles of trails wander through forests, open fields, and wetlands.