Locke Mills: “Work has begun on the gravel banks (Note1). The sleepers have been laid and some of the track is laid to them. A crew of about 16 is putting the track in, and will soon be hauling the gravel away with a crew of 30 to 40 men. Mr. Stewart says it will take four months this summer and four next summer to take them (gravel banks) all away.
Why gravel was being moved:
gravel being removed was part of collection of glacial deposits that had
accumulated in the form of long ridges local people called “whalebacks”. Glaciers covering this area that contained
the gravel had melted approximately 11,000 years earlier. We have found out that the gravel referred to
in this news item would be used to build additional logging roads and for other
similar types of fill requirements. A large amount of this gravel had already been used in the 1850-1851
period during construction of the railroad from
Note 1: The topography of Locke Mills
village originally consisted of large gravel ridges or long mounds of soil and
gravel left by streams from melting glaciers. George M. Stone authored a study
entitled “The Kames of
“Locke’s Mills Kames. An
interrupted series of kames extends from Bryant’s Pond to Locke’s Mills. At
this point two kames-streams joined, one coming from
In 1892, large amounts of
gravel were needed to build new roads into timber areas where extensive cutting
was planned as well as to be used for fill around and behind the mill buildings
Increasing available water power – raising the water level.
The level of
the water around Locke’s Mills village was raised in 1891- 1892 to increase the
amount of water power at the Locke’s Mills Dam.
E.L Tebbetts Company had decided to raise the water level. At this time, the Tebbetts Company was
apparently in the process of exiting from syndicate ownership of dowel and
spools mills that were part of the American Bobbin, Spool and Shuttle Co.
(since 1891) whose headquarters was in
Damage claims were raised against the mill company due to flooding:
Tebbetts Company decided to raise the water level would create and /or raise
the water level of the North Pond area. It would also flood lowland pasture and
wet areas in the vicinity of the current era’s (1980-2006)
Other news related to the financial troubles of American Bobbin, Spool & Shuttle:
Locke Mills: The assignees of the American Bobbin, Spool & Shuttle Company are running their mills here on full time. We understand that the contractors of birch and spool stock are to get their pay without deduction.
At the same
Stephen T. Seames provided the information reported above as background and explanation of the news items about removing gravel near the railroad depot.