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Browns Falls is a short hike off the road. This is a very
pretty stretch of the Oswegatchie River, but even more impressive,
at least from a historical perspective, are the remains of an old
mill of some type. You will find the old foundation of the
mill here, complete with the concrete cradles that held the old
penstock that carried water through it. In fact, there was
water flowing through it on the June day we were there. We
have a provided a second set of thumbnails showing those
remains.
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The old penstock ran parallel to the river at this
point and not far from it. In fact, you can see what appears
to be a temporary dam that may have been made to divert water when
this was built. Today, the penstock is much further
"inland" away from the main river channel. Today's
penstock was built around 1973. It is estimated that this
section was built around 1830 and was abandoned around the era of
WWI. From NYS 3, a few miles west of the village of Star Lake,
proceed down the Browns Falls Road. About 1.2 miles from the
intersection, you will come to a bridge. Park on the right
just before the bridge and take the trail upstream to the right of
the bridge. Although not maintained, a path is readily
found. The falls are less than one-half mile from the road.
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These are photos of the mill remains.
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