This scene from a shaky Route 15 bridge catches an evening view of the Old Red Mill, one of the eight Chittenden Mills that once lined the banks of Browns River. During the mid 1800s, these different mill sites produced chairs, wooden pumps, tubing, lumber, starch and a variety of flours. By 1882, Lucien Howe had purchased the mills, and with the help of his sons produced thousands of bushels of wheat flours and cornmeal. The mill also turned out small quantities of buckwheat, graham, oat and rye flours that sold throughout Vermont. Using five runs of millstones, the #2 mill kept up to six men busy most of the year. By 1885, Howe's son initiated major changes to the mill. The old stone mill house saw an increase of floor space with new upper levels and a tower to enclose a bucket elevator. An additional grain storage area was added to the rear of the building. The burrstone millstones were abandoned for a new style of steel rollers, one of the first grist mills to employ this new milling equipment in Vermont. Four turbines provided the mill's power, and a new 19th century product called dynamite was used to open up the river channel.
   After the milling operations ceased in 1946, several businesses used the building until the property was turned over to Jericho Historical Society. The Old Red Mill complex was restored, placed on the National Register of Historic places in 1972, and opened as a museum in 1981. Visitors may marvel at the original milling machinery, plus mementoes from Jericho resident Snowflake Bentley. Bentley's claim to fame includes the first microscopic photos of a snowflake and his methods to measure raindrops. Chittenden Number 2 Mill is found just east of Jericho on Vermont Route 15 in Jericho Corners Village.

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