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Walter W. and Alice B. Reynolds Forest, Sidney, Maine

An Historical Overview

By: Dr. Beatrice K. Reynolds

The "Walter W. and Alice B. Reynolds Forest " is part of the original 250 acres on the west side of the Kennebec River that was granted by the Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase on June 8, 1763, to John Marsh, yeoman of "Kennebek." According to the deed, Nathan Winslow surveyed the land on June 17, 1761. Since the date of purchase, John Marsh's descendants, through his daughter Hannah (Marsh) and Moses Hastings, have been in possession of the land in its entirety and portions thereof. The last owner was Walter W. Reynolds, now deceased, the great-great-great grandson of John Marsh.

Walter W. and Alice B. Reynolds' daughter Beatrice K. Reynolds, Ph.D., gave a portion of the original land to the Kennebec Land Trust so that the public may enjoy the scenic beauty of the landscape--the waterfalls, the wild flowers, and the brook-- and preserve the early history of Sidney. The Marsh's Brook, later known as Hastings Brook and Bog Brook, extended from the mouth of the Kennebec River to the Eight Rod Road. A tributary flowing into the Hastings Brook from the north became known in 1850 as the Goff Brook. From 1763 onwards, these brooks were the major source of energy for saw mills and grist mills, as were other brooks in Sidney. In 1766 John Marsh, his son-in-law Moses Hastings and his father Mathew Hastings petitioned the Kennebec Company in Boston for a grist mill. According to Henry D. Kingsbury's Illustrated History of Kennebec County, Maine, the mills were washed away in 1774 by a freshet and an ice jam. Moses Hastings rebuilt the grist mill on the south and a sawmill on the north side of the stream. Over the years, the Hastings sold the rights to others to construct mills. Sometime after 1800, a tannery was built on the north and west sides of the Hastings Brook and was enlarged in 1836.

What remains today is an 18th century timber dam on the mouth of Marsh's Brook on the Kennebec River, located on land owned by Beatrice K. Reynolds. The dam was exposed by the removal of Edwards Dam in Augusta on July 1, 1999, and supports Kingsbury's assertion that the sawmill and gristmill were on the east side of the river road, until they were washed away in 1774. Also visible are the stone foundations of the grist mill on the north side of the brook near the bridge, west of the River Road, and the sawmill upstream, beyond the falls, north to the northeast bend in the stream, westerly of the grist mill. On the same dam a carding and cloth dressing mill was built and operated to about 1850.

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