The Historic Red Mill Museum Village 2024 | Clinton, New Jersey

Red Mill Museum Village Clinton, New Jersey

The Red Mill

This may be the most photographed building in New Jersey.

The little town of Clinton in beautiful Hunterdon County is the home of The Red Mill, a very important building in its day.

The Mill sits on the south bank of the Raritan River. The Red Mill was used to make many things over the years; including wool, peach baskets, talc, and graphite.

The property changed ownership multiple times. Then a group of investors known as the “Red Mill Five” sprang into action:

The story began in 1960, when the Red Mill Five, spearheaded by James Marsh and Monroe DeMott, finally succeeded in buying the landmark Red Mill on the west bank of the South Branch of the Raritan River for $15,000.

For the next 12 years, the Red Mill Five met at noon on Fridays at the Clinton House to turn their vision into reality. Ruth Hetherington, executive secretary to Monroe DeMott, became secretary to the Red Mill Five for 12 years and was an integral part of those formative meetings at the Clinton House.

After working for years to restore the mill and surrounding property, the story continues:

In 1964, James Marsh bought the Mulligan Quarry and donated it to the museum. The museum and grounds were officially dedicated in 1965. By 1972 the Red Mill Five were ready to pass the baton, and other community members stepped forward to continue their mission to protect the Mill, its collections and our local heritage. The museum grew and, over the years, became known as the Hunterdon Historical Museum in 1996 and, in 2002, became the Red Mill Museum Village.

This excellent video discusses some of the history of The Red Mill:

Log Cabin

Carriage Shed

Mulligan Quarry

The Schoolhouse

This schoolhouse was not original to this site. According to the website:

In 1974, the circa 1860 Bunker Hill Schoolhouse was moved to the Museum grounds from a site near Sky Manor Airport in Franklin Township. Former Curator Claire Young remembers that moving the school house took several days even though it was only five miles away. She followed behind the building picking up pieces of the siding that fell in the road, to replace later. Some of those boards had the school children’s initials carved in them from long ago.

Schoolhouse at Red Mill Museum Village Clinton, New Jersey

There is a sign in the schoolhouse called “Rules for Students 1872”

Respect your schoolmaster. Obey him and accept his punishments.
Do not call your classmates names or fight with them. Love and help each other.
Never make noises or disturb your neighbors as they work.
Be silent during classes. Do not talk unless it is absolutely necessary.
Do not leave your seat without permission.
No more than one student at a time may go to the washroom.
At the end of class, wash your hands and face. Wash your feet if they are bare.
Bring firewood into the classroom for the stove whenever your teacher tells you to do this chore.
Go quietly in and out of the classroom.
If the master calls your name after class, straighten the benches and tables. Sweep the room, dust, and leave everything tidy.

Sign at Schoolhouse at Red Mill Museum Village Clinton, New Jersey

There is a sign in the schoolhouse called “Rules for Teachers 1872”

Teachers each day will fill lamps, trim the wicks and clean chimneys.
Each morning teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day’s session.
Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.
Men teachers may take one evening a week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they attend church regularly.
After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or any other good books.
Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
Every teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity, and honesty.
The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.