Morris Parks: Industrial Crafts Day Returns to Cooper Gristmill in Chester

Published on August 15, 2019

Enjoy Fascinating Demonstrations and Hands-On Activities

On Saturday, Aug. 24, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., discover the art and science of early industrial crafting at Industrial Crafts Day at the Morris County Park Commission's Cooper Gristmill in Chester Township.

Enjoy hands-on activities and demonstrations of historic crafts, such as blacksmithing, carpentry, tinsmithing, and textile arts. Learn how tools and clothes were made, and create your own craft to take home. Crafters will have handmade pieces available for purchase.

An artisan spins in front of the mill.

Admission is $3 per adult, $2 per senior (65+), and $1 per child age 4 to 16, and FREE for children under age 4. For more information and directions to Cooper Grist Mill, please call 908.879.5463, or visit morrisparks.net.

The Nathan Cooper Gristmill is a historic gristmill on the Black River in Chester Township, Morris County, New Jersey. From the 1760s until 1788 Isaiah Younglove milled flour on the site. Several other millers owned the mill, until Nathan Cooper constructed the present mill in 1826. The mill is currently kept in operating condition, with the large water wheel turning shafts and gears that turn 2,000-pound mill stones. Tours are available. The mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1976 for its significance in industry.

The Morris County Park Commission's 18,704 acres are home to 38 specific sites, several of which are nationally recognized. Over 3 million people visit New Jersey's largest park system annually, proving there really is something here for everyone. Over 150 miles of well-maintained trails wind through scenic Morris County, providing all kinds of educational, relaxing, active, fun, entertaining and memorable experiences.

Choose from a day of hiking, golf, biking, ice skating, sledding, ice fishing, fishing, boating, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, arboretums, historic sites, recreational fields, outdoor environmental education and special award-winning programming.