In 1828, John Beach bought land for $11,000 in Port Byron and built one of the largest and best constructed flouring mills in the state during that time. The employment, which this enterprise furnished and the traffic it built up, was of great importance to the prosperity of the village. Having purchased the water power on the outlet, he built a raceway two miles in length and put a flour mill with 10 run of stone, capable of manufacturing 500 barrels of flour per day.

The stone mill was built on the west side of the outlet and bordered on the south side of the Erie Canal, which today would be across the creek from St. John's Church. Along with the mill a slip was included for boats to dock while being unloaded or loaded.

The building was 120 feet long, 50 feet wide, with a store-house attached, 80 by 40 feet. It cost $60,000 and employed 20 to 30 men. A cooper shop built of stone, 200-feet long, was connected with it and supplied a part of the barrels used by the mill. Unlike the smaller mills in town, Beach's Mill was a merchant mill, designed to process large quantities of wheat into flour. A mill such as this was highly automated and powered by a waterwheel 22-feet high.

Beach never settled in the village, living in nearby Auburn. One of his partners, Henry Kennedy ran the business. Beach and Company bought large parcels of land in the village seemingly planning for large-scale growth.

Beach died in 1839 leaving ownership to his son who later sold the mill to Messrs. Bradfield and Roberts.

By the 1850s, the business of milling shifted to the much larger city of Rochester. Shortly thereafter, the enlarged canal was rerouted north cutting the mill off from the transportation system it needed to bring in the large quantities of wheat.

In 1857, the mill burned, and today only the raceway remains which was used to feed water into the enlarged Erie Canal until 1917.

- Sources: Historic overview by Richard Carlson 1996; “Storke,” Page 315; “Twelve and a Half Mile: The Erie Canal in Cayuga County” by Michael Riley, Page 57

Penny Helzer is historian for the village of Port Byron. She can be reached at 776-5300 or e-mail CraftyPenny@tds.net