The currently operating sash-type sawmill (up and down or reciprocating motion versus a spinning circular blade) with its horizontal iron water turbine and gears dates from about 1870, but there were sawmills on the site at Lee's Brook Pond in Ledyard, CT long before then. There were references to a mill pond here from as early as the 1740s. A sawmill belonging to Nathaniel Brown II and Increase B. Stoddard stood on this site in the late 1790s. The mill was never a large commercial venture supplying lumber to distant cities as found in the mill towns of northern New England. Rather it was a country mill, serving the farms and settlements within a convenient hauling distance by horse and wagon.
The Leffingwell House Museum, one of the finest restored examples of New England Colonial architecture and home of revolutionary patriot, merchant, and industrialist Christopher Leffingwell. Visitors to this living museum catch a glimpse of early 18th century life. By the mid 18th century what was built as a simple two room house in 1675 had evolved into an elegant home for one of Connecticut's most famous patriots. The house is filled with a fascinating assortment of pieces from each generation.