Frequent drivers along Paramus Road to the Route 4 East on-ramp have most certainly noticed a stone tower, almost completely obscured by the trees. On the site is a historical marker, emblazoned with the words “Red Mill.” For most who drive by the site, the presumption has always been that the tower is what remains of the Red Mill, built in the early 19th century.

In truth, the gable-roofed tower, with shingled upper section and a foundation of concrete and stone, is not the Red Mill at all. It is a pump house, erected to provide water for the extensive gardens of gramophone maker Edward D. Easton, who in 1904 purchased the surrounding property (today mostly paved for roadways). The structure is emblematic of the Arcola region of Paramus, and is used as an icon of the Arcola Country Club, located just across Route 4 along Paramus Road. The Arcola Tower and Water Wheel, gifted to Bergen County by the Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation and by Clyde A. and Cornelia H. Bogert, were restored and dedicated in 1967.

The Red Mill was destroyed in 1894, and only a few, rare photos of the legendary structure exist today. This paucity of artifacts may have fueled the mill’s legend; besides its historical significance, the mill became the focus of intense gossip when it was rumored to be haunted.

A commercial hub
Over its 100-plus-year history, the mill was owned by a variety of notable Bergen residents, including (during the Revolutionary War) Bergen County Freeholder Jacob Zabriskie. Situated on an 80-acre mill farm along the Saddle River, the structure was part of a neighborhood, New Hamburgh, that was a bustling relay point for stagecoaches stopping overnight, the water and pasture in the immediate area being of excellent quality.

According to historical records, Barger’s Lane (as the old road to Paterson from Arcola, now encompassed by Route 4, was then known) was also a popular track for horse-racing, where thousands of dollars were wagered and every foot of the course was lined with men and women from miles around. The Bergen County militia held periodic “trainings” on the broad and level plain about Red Mill; such training days, attended by thousands, had the air and festivity of a general holiday.

Down to business
In 1816, the mill’s owner, John Ryers, installed wool-carding machinery, a major innovation. Four years later, the mill was purchased by Albert A. Westervelt, who distinguished it with a coat of bright scarlet paint, and so bestowed the name Red Mill.

In July 1824, Westervelt’s son-in-law, Edward B. Force, established a manufacturing business at the site. Upon his death in 1838, Westervelt was succeeded as owner of the entire operation by Force, the husband of his daughter Lydia. Force increased production, spinning yarn for the Higgins Carpet Factory, one of New York City’s largest textile makers of the era.

Edward Force died Sept. 6, 1850, at just 51. In November 1853, commissioners of the Orphans Court sold the mill and about 60 acres of property for $5,200 to the highest bidder, George Graham. Graham raised the level of the mill’s dam to increase its power, thereby flooding meadowlands as far as Dunkerhook and enraging his neighbors along the river. They retaliated by removing the upper course of stones forming the dam, and throwing them into the river during the night. During the Civil War, Graham produced army blankets for Robert Beatty of Little Falls, who had a government contract. In March 1871, administrators of Graham’s estate sold the tract to John Dunlop. Dunlop, in partnership with D.S. Beam, Samuel Smith and General Hoxney, all of Paterson, intended to use the mill pond as a municipal reservoir for the city of Hackensack, but the water supply ultimately proved inadequate.

For many years, the setting of the Red Mill, with its two dams, bridge and stream, made it a favorite subject for professional and amateur photographers, sketchers and painters. But its industrial life ebbed away, outdone by the modern factory system. The popularity of the place as a waystation declined with the rise of the railroads and, as the roads thereabout deteriorated, the old drovers and stage hotels closed. In August 1873, The Hackensack Republican announced that the Red Mill at Arcola had been “rented and will soon run as a shoddy manufactory,” but the old mill dam sustained a heavy break by a freshet in April 1874. The old dwelling house near the Red Mill was reportedly “the subject of a good many comments.”

A legend is born
Bergen County historical records from the late 19th century indicate considerable speculation that the Red Mill had frequent phantasmic visitors.
“The neighbors say that strange noises are to be heard in the building after night fall,” according to an 1874 article in the Bergen Democrat. “On one occasion, an apparition in white stood at the window. In the early part of this century, ‘Olly’ Westervelt lived there. He was an eccentric man, and it is said that he ordered a coffin before his death. It was brought into the house [today, most likely the site of a parking lot for Garden State Plaza], and the old man got into it to see how a wooden overcoat fitted. It was a tight fit, and help had to be brought to relieve Mr. Westervelt out of his predicament. It may be that the spirit of the old man has returned to revisit the old settlement.

“Change has developed, but little,” the writer continues. “The old mill still stands, and its former occupant, E.B. Force, and others, have long crossed the dark river. It would not be unreasonable to suppose the spirits of the departed return to earth, that apparitions from the spirit world are walking around the Red Mills, and disturbing the residents by phantoms. The building in itself is enough to scare any one, let alone the presence of a ghost. It is an admirable place for goblins and sich [sic], and the only way the public can be relieved of them is to pull down the old dwelling, and break up such a hiding place.”

Indeed, the mill was dismantled a few decades later, but the legend lives on – especially at Halloween, when ghouls and goblins and, well, “sich,” come out to play.