The Engine House
For a time I was under the impression that the wash tables and jigs inside a mill were run off of a belt and pulley system powered (somehow) by the stamps themselves. After doing a much more thorough investigation of stamp technology I realized that wasn’t the case. The valve mechanism of the stamps required rotary power themselves, and the pulleys I saw coming off of these giant machines weren’t running other machines but were in fact running the stamp’s valve eccentrics. There was another power source at work inside a mill - a steam engine that we hadn’t found before. Or at least I had thought.
Sitting at the south end of the third level was this concrete building - a place we had found before during our last visit to the Mohawk Mill. But back then we were under the erroneous assumption that the building housed the mill’s pump. But this isn’t true, the mills pump house was in fact down by the mouth of the Tobacco River (which you can check out HERE). This building had to of housed another type of engine, and after checking out the Sandborn maps we knew what it was. This was the mill’s steam engine, which would of powered both the stamp eccentrics and the rest of the machines as well.
Walking through the large opening which must of been some type of loading door, we discovered a collection of concrete foundations and pedestals sprinkled around us. This was no doubt the building’s basement, and it reminded us of the Quincy Turbine Building’s basement as well. In most cases the floor above us had collapsed, leaving only a few dangling strands of reinforced concrete to remind us of its presence. The north end of the basement was relatively clear, and moving out to that side we could get a better view of building’s layout.
There were three major foundations still standing here. Near the middle of the entire room was a series of concrete pillars set into a square and holding up the only part of the roof that still remained. Behind that was another set of long concrete walls, which had an arched opening cut into them. (Which you can see in the photo above). At the back corner was a large concrete pedestal, which besides a large opening cut into its base seemed to be solid throughout.
Making its way around that large pedestal was this covered hallway, which reminded up of the maintenance corridors we find running around hoist foundations.
At the building’s rear (south) wall were a series of large round openings, which were most likely openings for steam pipes. Besides the pair of small openings that you can see on the left above, there was also one very large opening to the right. This one seemed to have allowed a very large pipe to enter the building, perhaps a good 4 feet in diameter. The immense size would lead me to believe that this was a low pressure steam pipe, perhaps an exhaust of some sort.
Heres a closer look, in which you can make out the grooved edges of the opening. The opening was damaged at the top, possibly as a result of the pipe being removed for scrap. Along the edge you can make out a line of rust - the only remaining clue of what was once inside here.
To confuse issues more, a pair of small pipes entered the building on its north end. These look like they were water lines, or maybe compressed air (though I have no idea why that would be needed here).
Moving up the the building’s second floor we discovered very little left. The walls here were most likely steel like the rest of the mill, and were no-doubt removed for scrap. Most of the floor had also collapsed, save a few sections which were being held up by the concrete pillars below. Looking at what’s left it’s hard to visualize where the engine would of sat, and in what orientation. I know that the engine would of spun one or more large flywheels, which would of been connected via belts to an overhead shaft. That shaft would of spun a series of belts that would of been connected to the machines of the mill behind us - including the stamps.
The engine must of been mounted east-west (from left to right in the photo), sitting at the back end where most of the concrete pedestals were located. The flywheel must of sat just in front of that, sitting between those back foundations and the remaining piece of floor stretching out into the middle of the structure. There doesn’t seem to be any other option.
Walking (carefully mind you) out to the opposite side of the building we took a closer look at what I believe was the engine’s foundations. This large “U” shaped pedestal matches others we have found in other engine houses, and was probably connected to the engine in some way.
Looking down at the outside of the building’s south wall we saw a large concrete box sitting just behind where those large steam pipes would of entered the building. Another circular opening can be seen coming out of that as well. Interestingly this opening is on the wrong side, as the boiler house sits to the west side of this structure. The opening should be on the other side if this is a steam pipe from the boiler.
Dropping off of the building we turned our attention to the next stop on the tour - the stamp floor.