Tag Archives: Compo Cove

As summer begins, and crowds head toward Old Mill — to sit on the beach, fish in the inlet or jump (illegally) from the pedestrian walkway — it’s hard not to notice the handsome white house straddling between Long Island Sound and Sherwood Mill Pond.

What was once a grist mill is now (following 2 fires) a private home. With water flowing underneath, and killer views on both sides, it’s one of those places we love imagining living in.

It’s been a private home for over a century. (Pete Aitkin, the Black Duck owner, is a former resident.)

Here’s what it looked like, around 1910. The colorized image comes from Paul Ehrismann, whose collection of seldom-seen photos seems limitless.

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As beach season begins — and the newly retro-named Old Mill Grocery prepares to reopen — it’s time to look at Old Mill Beach, back in the day.

Seth Schachter sent a fascinating postcard, from his vast collection. Click on or hover over to enlarge:

There is so much to see here: the meadow (foreground), where homes now stand.

The channel (now filled in) that runs from Sherwood Mill Pond toward a pair of homes (or sheds?), long ago demolished or destroyed by storms.

Old Mill Beach itself — back then, just rocks or grass.

The handsome stand of trees.

The narrow strip of land on the north side of Old Mill Road. Were the houses there now built on landfill?

I wonder too who took this “bird’s-eye view” — and how? Was it from Compo Hill, or a low-flying airplane?

So much has changed at Old Mill in the century or so since this photo was taken. But from the pedestrian bridge and the “grist mill” house , on out to Compo Cove, the scene seems timeless.

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