Two men on a mill : $b The story of the restoration of Baxter's Mill — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Two men on a mill : $b The story of the restoration of Baxter's Mill
John Stuart Mill · en
The two signs, and especially the final sign, which grace the mill
property were made by a sign painter and artist extraordinary, one
H. O. Thurston, of Centerville, a friend of long-standing.
There were many times when it seemed to me we would never finish this
job; that it really was perhaps too much for us to have ever started,
what with our limited knowledge and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Somehow we all kept going, hoping that we would finally have the mill
completed as we envisioned from the beginning. It reminded me of the
chap who had the tiger by the tail and didn’t dare let go.
V
This land on which we live, called Cape Cod, is visited by hundreds of
tourists in the summer and dwelt upon by the year-round residents, most
of whom are totally unaware of the richness of the tradition and of the
way of life which is found here. This way of life is quite different
than any one finds in any other part of our country. We do live close
to the sea, and we have many little villages nestled around quiet,
patient roads. We have innumerable ponds and lakes, and the vast seas
on either side of us. Express highways bring crowds to the Cape, but
there are many villages and communities not encroached upon as yet to a
great degree by speed and hasty living.
Being close to Plymouth, the birthplace of liberty, and the second
landing place of the Pilgrims, we, of course, are bound to history by
close ties.
I think and I hope many people are becoming more and more aware of the
gradual loss and decay of our historical landmarks, and my thought is
to preserve the rich but dwindling heritage of our traditional land,
not by or through the Federal Government or by the State Government,
but by all the people in local communities through our own Town
Government.
There are a few restoration projects now under way and some have been
completed in the past few years. I can think quickly of the West Parish
Meeting House in West Barnstable, which can be seen from the Mid-Cape
Highway; the old Hoxie House in Sandwich; the Sandwich Water Mill, now
being restored by the Town of Sandwich, which, by the way, has a most
excellent setting at Shawme Pond, in which are reflected the tall,
white buildings surrounding it; the Brewster Mill at Stony Brook,
having been restored about three years ago by the Town of Brewster,
where one can purchase corn meal every Saturday afternoon at twenty
cents per pound.
I recently purchased some of the corn meal from the Brewster Stony
Brook Mill, where it is slowly ground between old millstones, and if
you have never tasted corn meal muffins made from this flour, you
are in for a real treat. Ground in this manner, the corn apparently
keeps the goodness and the natural nutrients of the grain. It is not
processed and bleached to a point where it tastes like a blotter. It
actually tastes like corn. We have also tried some of the wheat flour,
and the bread made from it is something to be experienced.