Cotton Hollow Mill - Closeup

Took a quick hike to the Cotton Hollow Mill and got close up today!

Yep I got my feet wet....

- Short Video -

Looking upstream from the mill, there's remnants of the higher dam barely visible as well...
(future trek!)

 What was once here...

Upper Cotton Hollow in the Snow

Late afternoon--after a jaunt around my backyard forest trails--I went down to Upper Cotton Hollow for a quick hike. I should have worn my crampons as is what pretty slippery in spots so I didn't go that far. Needless to say, it was still nice in the late afternoon sun...

Giving a quick South Glastonbury Tour

I took my visiting friend Kevin to a couple of favorite spots. It was late afternoon and the weather was cold but things were still looking beautiful!

Brainard Pond Dam (a.k.a. Smut Pond)

Cotton Mill

The hike to get there

That's the old mill behind us...

...and the remnants of the upper 60 ft dam were a bit easier to see now with less foliage :-)

Kevin found a great spot -It might be nice to play my Native American Flutes here!

...and the way out was a stunning orange!

South Glastonbury - Then and Now

Hardly much of a trek but nevertheless--being a history buff--these local spots warranted researching and posting. :-)  All black & white historical photos below were sourced from the Arcadia Publishing: "Glastonbury" book - courtesy of the Historical Society of Glastonbury (which I am now a proud member)!.

South Glastonbury Post Office 

Although South Glastonbury was never near a railroad, it did have a street car line. The Trolley Line was extended from Hubbard Brook to Roaring Brook in 1893. 

Streetcar in front of the post office

The sign above the Post Office entry says:

-Town of Glastonbury population 4,800

-Hartford 9 miles--Middletown 9 miles

The building to the left is the salesroom of Hopewell Mills

Today the former Post Office building is a cleaners and the former Hopewell Mills Salesroom houses two stores.

Spar Mill

This mill--located where High Street crosses the Roaring Brook--was originally known as the Roaring Brook Paper Manufacturing Company. There was a sawmill and paper mill to make binder's boards for book covers. Later known as the Hollister Grist Mill it was eventually converted it into a grinding mill for processing the feldspar mined in nearby quarries and renamed the Spar Mill.

1880's view of the mill

Today the former mill office is a residence and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

the house, visible on the right, is in the historic photo above

There was a dam here but there's not much left to indicate that!

Cotton Hollow Mill Dams

Much has been written about the former Cotton Hollow Mill which I visited even before I moved here! see post >.  It was and still is an impressive site! The dams here were 24 and over 50 feet high and the 80-acre site included 19 houses where factory workers lived.

The large dam was blown up in 1904.

View of the former mill (January 2021)

Hike to the CH Mill (July Visit)

On Wednesday, I returned to the Cotton Hollow Preserve, hiking in from the entrance off Main Street. The creek was still high from the Tropical Storm Elsa (last Friday) and there was washed up sand everywhere on the way in and along the river.

Once I got the the end of the official trail, the foliage blocked a decent view of the mill ruins at the lower dam remnants- bummer!

I was itching to go further upstream to try and check out any upper dam ruins but despite a crazy climb uphill for a bit - I couldn't find a trail leading across the ravine to get further upstream - double bummer!

Cotton Hollow - Elsa Leaves Her Mark!

 I ventured down to Cotton Hollow Preserve in the early evening as I was curious what I would be like after the tropical storm. Yikes -  it didn't disappoint!

Yikes - where's the trail?

Cotton Hollow Mountaineering!

My good friend Kevin Malone came up to visit and we went on an adventure in Cotton Hollow. My goal was to reach the old 3-story mill ruins. Despite rigorous mountaineering over some very treacherous trails,  we were only able to get close enough to barely see it. The last stretch was impassable :-(

This is the swimming hole...

Gorgeous scenery!

The climbing was crazy!!!

End. of the Line...

We were close - but...

Heading Back

It was even more tricky going down these crazy trails then coming up them!

Hard to tell but we are up pretty high...

It was so rugged and picturesque...

Yep - another wonderful adventure checking out the splendors of South Glastonbury - Ooo yeah!!!