Waterville Historical Society

05/28/2026

Save the date for this event! More details to follow!🇺🇸

05/24/2026

"The old Mill Pond dam on Big Creek, just north of Waterville, behind the Nolan and Decker properties" — PsBrown 11/10/83

Photographed April 2026

05/23/2026

A few days ago, we returned to Big Creek to take more pictures of the old mill pond dam for an upcoming post. The caption of that post would have been about the mill industry in Waterville, the fate of early flood victims Justus Tower and John Williams, and the importance of photographing historic landmarks before it's too late.

We would have talked about the events that occurred on this spot 222 years ago, which, according to the 1804 newspaper clipping we shared in our recent post, was once the site of (at least) two dams, both of which were washed away in the flood. Justus Tower's dam is long gone, but stood somewhere behind his house (extant at 175 Buell Ave), meaning that the dam of John Williams, which was a little upstream, once stood near this spot. We would have offered a plea for preservation, perhaps by reconstructing pieces of the dam somewhere else as a monument to the water of Waterville and the industries that utilized its power, or by repurposing the stones within the upper part of Big Creek along the proposed new community center (an idea suggested last year). We would have pondered whether or not these stones are (were?) the same stones placed here after the dams were rebuilt in May 1804.

We regret that we returned a few days too late, and instead offer these photos of where the dam used to be.

(We took some more photos last month which we will share tomorrow.)

05/19/2026

https://www.burgessandtedescofuneralhomes.com/obituaries/Joseph-W-Falk?obId=48428762

Joe was the president of the Waterville Historical Society for 20 years and was instrumental in acquiring our building on Main Street to house our museum. He will be missed.

View Joseph W. Falk's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

05/15/2026

Mark Mowrey, who has been working in various forests for years gave a great presentation on the Trees of Waterville on Wednesday evening at the Historical Society.

05/13/2026

Reminder: Tonight at 7 pm Mark Mowrey speaks on the Trees of Waterville. Refreshments will be served.

05/13/2026

Reminder: tonight at 7 pm Mark Mowrey talks about the Trees of Waterville. Refreshments will be served.

05/11/2026

On Wednesday, May 13 at 7 p.m. we welcome Forester Mark Mowrey who will talk about the Trees of Waterville.

Mowrey will share information on the type and variety of trees we have in the village, the watershed and will answer any tree related questions.

Mowrey is an avid outdoorsman and has spent much of his adult life working in the woods and as a Forester.

We are at 220 E Main Street, parking in the rear of the building adjacent to the Waterville Fire Department.

05/07/2026