Celebrate The Hanford Mills Waterwheel’s 100th Anniversary This Weekend

Looking for something fun to check out this Memorial Day Weekend? Here's a suggestion that you and your family may enjoy.

Have you ever visited the Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith, New York? It's an operating mill site that has been in operation since 1846, as it harnessed the waters of Kortright Creek to support itself and its surrounding community for nearly 200 years, according to the museum's website.

It has one of the last nineteenth-century mills to survive intact, and is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

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This Saturday, May 23, 2026, Hanford Mills Museum will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its waterwheel, which was installed in the mill in 1926. Officials of the museum note that it continues to generate power for the mill. 

Visitors on Saturday will be able to witness the wheel come to life and join the museum to celebrate this unique piece of local history and tradition. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1 p.m., followed by a concert by the  Small Town Big Band at 2 p.m.

Other activities will occur as well on Saturday, including a guided bird walk from 8  to 9:30 a.m., led by experienced birders from the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society. The bird walk is free and open to the public, where visitors will get to explore the grounds of Hanford Mills Museum.

Hanford Mills Museum Waterwheel Celebration Day opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 23, 2026, through  5 p.m. Admission is by donation, which will be used to establish a new Preservation Reserve Fund to continue to keep the waterwheel and the rest of the site operational and well-preserved into the future.

The Museum is located at 51 County Highway 12, East Meredith. For more information, visit the Hanford Mills Museum website.