John Moore Mill – Sparkill Creek

John Moore Mill – Sparkill Creek

In the early 1800’s John Moore, a free black from Franklin Township, New Jersey, ran a grist mill and saw mill in Piermont. Moore’s grist mill ground grain into flour. During the time that many blacks in the County were enslaved, John Moore ran a flourishing business. He is believed to be the first person of African descent to own a business of significant size in Rockland County. Moore also built mill wheels. He was a man of many skills and talents. He was regarded as having made some of the finest mill wheels in Rockland County. Moore’s mill wheels were important because the job of the mill wheel is to propel or move the mill machinery. If the mill wheels were not made properly the mill could not operate. By 1810, Moore added a carding mill. On the farms each spring, sheep would be sheared and the wool washed of its natural grease and dirt, combed, and then finally carded. Carding was the untangling of the fiber. Once rolled in bundles, the wool could be used for weaving, knitting, or on looms. Moore later went into partnership with the De Pew family, who also ran a mill.

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