First constructed by Pilgrim John Jenney upon this site in 1636, this mill remained in continous operation until is destruction by fire in 1847.
The Jenney Mill utilzes the water-driven technology of 360 years ago to continue to produce fresh and unique cornmeal, wheat, and rye flours at the site.The Pilgrims saw a need for this mill early on. In the 1620's, the Indians had taught them how to plant and harvest the native Indian Yellow corn. The wooden morter and pestle grinding methods of the Indians would serve to produce meal for so large a colony, so in 1636, Plymouth's court granted "Master Jenney" permission to build a mill which could produce enough meal and flour for all.
Settlers on the waterfront could follow the Town Brook path to the Mill to have their corn ground, leaving Master Jenney a pottle(2 quarts)-per-bushel, or perhaps some fishor squash in trade.Thus the Jenney Grist Mill became the very center or "hub" of commerce in the Old Colony of Plymouth.
Corn was planted with herring (called "Alewives") as fertilizer in the native American manner. These alewives spawn in the mill stream of Town Brook, and in the mid-spring can be seen struggling upstream to their spawing ground. The underground corn was also used as the "coin of the realm", and debts were paid by the bushel.
Master Jenney ran the mill from 1636 until his death in 1644, when his sons took over as millers. For 360 years, the mill has been privately owned and run. As you cross the wooden bridge over Town Brook, following the same path as those early settlers, you can see the huge breast wheel of the Jenney Grist Mill turn as fresh corn is ground by the turn of the stone.