Scribner’s Mill & Homestead: A Living History Museum by leigh macmillen hayes
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n 1974, while John and Marilyn Hatch were vacationing in Maine’s Lake Region, he began making measured drawings of the mill he had found on the Crooked River. Ed Scribner, fourth generation owner of this historic site, had seen John’s van return to the site repeatedly and one day said, “I’ve seen you over here every day this week and I’m wondering what you are doing.” John, an Industrial Arts teacher in Rhinebeck, New York, replied, “Oh, it’s such a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Scribner. This mill needs to be saved and I’ve been here doing measured drawings so there’s a record of it and what was in it.” Ed said, “Well, you need to talk to my son, Bourdon.” When John returned the next day, he met Bourdon and Ed, and the two younger men hit it off right away. As she related this story to me, John’s widow, Marilyn, said, “They had sorta the same kind of mind.” John encouraged Bourdon to save the building, stating that it was an important and rare piece of history. That winter, Bourdon and a small group worked to form a not-for-profit organization and by the time the Hatches returned in 1975, Scribner’s Mill Preservation, Inc. had been created with 501(c)3 status. The organization consists of four officers and six directors who have overseen the restoration of the mill since then. In 2021, the Scribner Homestead was deeded to the Preservation, keeping in tack a story that dates back 175 years to 1846. A few years prior to construction, Worthy Columbus Barrows, who owned a tannery business and leather store in Bolsters Mills, had purchased lot #144, which included Carsley Falls on Crooked River in Harrison to fulfill his vision of creating a sawmill.
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