Local History: Mills Once Dotted Landscape

Millburn owes its growth—and name—to the many mills that dotted the landscape here. One of the earliest mills was established by Samuel Campbell, from Scotland, who inspired the name Millburn, or mills on the "burn," the Scotch word for river or stream.

The mills owe their historic success to the topography, which brought water runoff from the "short hills" to the mill wheels that needed the power of water to turn them.

The last mill that functioned as such was the Fandango Mill, which is seen in the photo at right, which is in the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society collection. It was in the area now occupied by ShopRite on Main Street and the neighboring condominiums. Evidence of the gates and walls that controlled the water can still be seen behind the condos on Main.

This same early Fandango mill photo and other historic photos, and descriptions, can be seen in an interactive Google history map of Millburn.

Click on the balloons on the map to see the historic photos and read the brief description of the history associated with that site.

Members of the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society write a weekly column highlighting items in the collection, which can be seen at the museum located at the Short Hills Train Station on the Hobart Avenue side.