Grist Mill

Mill Street, Shelton, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Directions:

Merritt Parkway (Route 15) north to exit 52 for Route 8 north; get off at Exit 12; turn left onto Commerce Drive; turn right onto Bridgeport Avenue; turn left onto Mill Street;  the pull-off parking area is on the left side of the road near the Far Mill River. 

From the north heading south on Huntington Street; turn left onto Buddington Road; quickly, just over the bridge, turn right and drive 0.25 of a mile and turn into the pull-off parking area on the right..  Look for the kiosk and parking area.

Geology/Topography:

The Far Mill River drops in elevation here and so flows quickly.

History:

1600's   --  gristmills and sawmills located along the Far Mill River. 

1800s  --  stump joint factory located here (as you drive up Mill Street, just before you come to Judson Street, you will pass a stone house on your left).  An old stone grinding wheel, reportedly found nearby, is displayed in the front. 

1997  --  the land purchased from the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company as part of the referendum. 

2000  --  the Gristmill Trail officially opened.

2004  --  the kiosk and bench added by Andrew Lautenschlager and friends as an Eagle Scout project.

Wildlife:

brown and rainbow trout, snapping turtle, kingfisher, great blue heron, wood duck, beaver, deer, raccoon

Trails:  

0.3 mile easy white-blazed trail along the scenic Far Mill River on public open space.

Source:

Grist Mill Trail:  http://www.borntoexplore.org/trails/gristmill.htm

10/05/2005.  On a beautiful afternoon, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I walked down to the Far Mill River.  At this point it looks more like a wide stream in the woods rather than a river.  There is a lot of shade here and so fewer examples of floodplain species.  Striped wintergreen was just ten yards of less from the river, so I gather there is not a lot of flooding here.  The white trail turns left with woods on the left and the river on the right. It is a nice walk, although short. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant blooming on date of field trip 10/05/2005

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus sp. (elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Corylus sp. (hazel)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Spiraea alba var. latifolia (meadowsweet)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf Viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)      *
Aster spp. (small white aster)     *
Bidens connata (swamp beggar ticks)     *waning
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Erythronium americanum (trout lily)  spring plant
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Polygonatum sp. (true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Prenanthes sp. (rattlesnake root)
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Solidago bicolor (silverrod)     *waning
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod)     *
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Urtica dioica var. dioica (stinging nettle)
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered sedge type)

Grasses:
Cinna arundinacea (wood reedgrass)
Leersia virginica (white grass)

Ferns:
Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

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