Richard Coombes gave me permission to post this description of his Aunt's
visit to the Carman Mill site in Brookhaven on Long Island, NY. Her visit
was a couple of years ago.
Richard Coombes wrote:
My aunt visited L.I. last December and, when she and her husband found
that the Carmans (also Carman's) River was nearby, went for a visit.
Here's her account:
"I fully expected to find a concrete channel through a subdivision
terminating in a shopping center. But that end of Long Island is quite
rural, still farmed and even pristine. And the river runs unchanneled
from start to finish and is in fact a fish and game preserve. We easily
found the river, a slow-moving, tranquil stream that apparently rises
near Yaphank, becomes a sort of lake or at least broadens into a park
there, narrows again to pass through oak woodland then fans out into a
beautiful estuary as it empties into the Atlantic (added note: "well it
goes into the Great South Bay actually - separated by barrier islands
from the Atlantic"). Driving back and forth, sampling roads to see the
river as it runs its course, we stumbled on the Carman's River Canoe and
Kayak company which by chance had a clerk in the store even though it
was off-season and they're not usually open. The clerk didn't know too
much, though he did make me a hell of a deal on the T shirts (the only
ones remaining after the season) and said we could in summer rent a
canoe or kayak and paddle the entire length of the river in about 4
hours. As I turned to go I looked above the door and there hung a
commemorative plate showing a wooded structure, a two-story mill, at the
river's edge and proclaiming it Carman's Mill. The kid wouldn't sell
the plate but I did get him to take it down and found the following on
the back: "The Carman's Mill on the Connecticut River (Carman's River),
Southhaven, NY. Built circa 1740 and removed 1958 to make way for the
extension of Sunrise Highway. This grist, saw and fulling mill was
named for its owner Samuel Carman. Run in conjunction with a
tavern-general store and was a general meeting place for this area of
Brookhaven Town. September 11, 1983. Limited edition of 300 plates
1983 Delano Studios, Setauket, Long Island...dealer said they might sell
for around $50."
I can't vouch for the source of the information on the plate, but
thought it interesting.