Our travels took us to Clinton, NJ to the Red Mill. Don and I have often stopped in Clinton on our way to Bethlehem, PA so I did not bother to get directions. My first observation was that roads look a lot different from the passenger seat. Fortunately Ashley was a good sport about our U-Turns and detours.
According to the historic marker out front, the Red Mill circa 1810 processed wool, plaster, grist, talc, and graphite. It once generated electricity for the area. It was a limestone quarry from early 1800s to 1963. The location includes the mill (seen in the picture with Ashley) and a tiny village with a dozen buildings including a general store, one-room schoolhouse, the mill overseer's office, and a couple of tenant homes.
It is a very picturesque setting. It also seems to be very understaffed. Someone was on hand to take our money, and hand us a brochure for the self guided tour, but she did not know the answer to even the most basic question -- where is the special exhibit? I knew at that point we were truly on our own.
As with the Roebling Museum, what helped us focus our learning was an activity for children. At the Red Mill Museum there is a scavenger hunt. When we reached the end and still had two items to find (a typewriter and roll-top desk) we knew we missed something. Fortunately a different volunteer was setting up the art gallery and pointed us in the right direction.
Ashley's favorite part was the collection of sewing machines. This is about half of those on display.
Based on our experience I cannot recommend the place. I gained more from their website than I did from visiting them. http://www.theredmill.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment