THE FRANKLIN LAKES CIDER MILL

THE CIDER MILL OF FRANKLIN LAKES

BY

JACK GOUDSWARD

Traveling down Franklin Lakes Road, just past Franklin Lake stands the ruins of the Cider Mill. Many old time residents recall fondly the two story building that stood there. But the talk soon turns to the time in the fall when the mill would open and produce the best tasting cider around.

The mill was self-sustaining when it came to power. It was a “Green Operation”.   It ran off of two Water Power Turbines built in 1880.   It had a fall of six feet off of Franklin Lake into the turbines. This would give then a gross horse power of 20 with a net of 10. With this type of power supply the mill could run all year around. Since the turbines were under water they would not freeze like a regular water wheel would. This was a multi component mill. Under the roof it held a Cider Mill, Saw Mill, Grist Mill and Sharpening Shop. With this type of set up the mill was able to transcend the changes the town went through. From a farming base to the residential base we have today.

The last operator of the mill was Fred Bender. He took great pride in the mill. Sometimes you did not need to ask him for a tour of the mill he just started. He would start in the largest part of the mill the Cider Mill. He would tell you it took 16 bushels of apples to make 50 gallons of Cider. He would then take you to the conveyor and apple chipper that would tune the apples in a form of Apple Paste. This was then loaded into trays and lowered into the press to be turned into Cider. This press had a capacity of 4000 pounds needed to crush the paste into Cider. The Cider would then run through Brass pipes that connected to large holding barrels. It was from here the Cider would be “Tapped” and run into jugs for sale. The “Pressed Apples” would be removed from the trays and sold for feed.

The mill ran on pulleys and leather belts. BY attaching the proper belt to a machine in any part of the building it could be made to run. BY opening and closing the water gate on the flume the speed of the machines could be controlled. This control was very useful when grinding grain. This would govern how fine the grain was ground. The mill turned out feed grain livestock and “Injun Meal” that the local farmers ate for breakfast.

The Saw and Grist Mills were a staple of the community. But both stopped operation in 1948 because of lack of demand. But one example of the king of work done in the Saw Mill exists today. They are the pickets of the railing of the balcony of the Wyckoff Reformed Church.

Pointing at an old fire hose Mr. Bender told this story. Before the Fire Department started the hose was used to fight the fire at the house across the road from the mill. The turbines were started and they supplied the presser to force the water into the air and on to the house. The house was saved.

On the site today a boiler with a date of 1922 embossed on it stands. It originally supplied 150 LBS of presser to sustain the power for the mill in times of low water supply. It was powered by wood. Later the town regulations dictated that it be used to heat water and not for steam. When the mill was destroyed by arson in the early 1970’s only the Cider Mill and Machine Shop were in operation. But all of the other machines were in operational condition. Today only the ruins and fond memories remain of the Cider Mill.