Haviland-Davison Grist Mill Museum

The construction date of the original core of the Haviland-Davison Mill is estimated to be 1689. John Haviland built the mill in what was then called Near Rockaway (now East Rockaway). There were about 25 water-powered mills by 1700 on Long Island in what is now Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The Davison family ran the mill from 1818 to 1920 after it was purchased by Robert Davison. The next operator was Robert's son, Alexander I.

The mill was inherited by three sons of Alexander Davison upon his death in 1868. One of the brothers (Alexander II) sold his share to the other two (Oliver and Charles), and the mill was renamed O. and C. Grist and Saw Mill. Sometime between 1868 and 1889, the rear addition was added to the original part of the mill. In 1882, Charles bought out Oliver's share of the operation. Charles sold lumber, timber, moldings, and wooden shingles; the grist milling took place on the second story. The Davison Ship Dock and Lumber Yard was south of where Atlantic Avenue now runs.

The last addition to the mill building was constructed around 1900. After the mill was no longer in use, the building was moved to opposite the Pearl Street Bridge on Ocean Avenue and was used as a warehouse by the Atlantic and Pacific Company (A & P). The mill building was in a deteriorated state and about to be demolished when the Village of East Rockaway purchased it from the Davison family for a dollar, at the urging of the village attorney, Wesley C. Hill. The roof of the building was removed on February 27, 1963 before beginning the move to Memorial Park, so the structure could fit under electric wiring. The building moved slowly through the town atop a house-moving trailer, crossing the railroad tracks on Ocean Avenue to Atlantic Avenue, west on Atlantic, and then north to the park. The mill was placed on a brick foundation that had been constructed at a corner of the park. The park was platted by the Village of East Rockaway in 1915 and has no ties to the mill's history.

A Grist Mill Museum Committee included an architect, Douglas Wilke, to guide the restoration process. Historical artifacts were gathered from community members, and the museum opened in June 1965. One of the main exhibits was an antique fire fighting hand pumper machine from 1893 nicknamed "Tootsie." Ironically, the machine was badly burned in the 1990 arson fire (a still-unsolved crime) and it took several years for it to be rebuilt by Amish craftsmen in Pennsylvania.

Shaver, Peter D. Studenroth, Zachary N. NRHP Nomination of Haviland-Davison Grist Mill, East Rockaway, N.Y.. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1998.

Sympson, Patricia C. East Rockaway. Charleston, SC. Arcadia Publishing, 2009.