7. Stony Brook Grist Mill
The Stony Brook Grist Mill on Harbor Road is a historic grist mill near the Avalon Nature Preserve and T. Bayles Minuse Pond, just down the street from the Stony Brook Village Center. The mill structure dates back to around 1751, preceded by an earlier grist mill built in 1699 by Adam Smith. Grain grounds at the grist mill were taken by the British during the American Revolution, and by the 1800s, catawba grapes were pressed and fermented at the mill after a vineyard was planted around the mill. Up until the 1950s, farmers still brought their wheat and corn to the mill, which was acquired by philanthropist Ward Melville in 1947.
The nearby Avalon Nature Preserve is a privately run nature sanctuary with 216 acres of fields, forests, and wetlands, 140 of which are opened to the public. The preserve is currently working on a deer study of the local deer population.