Existing conditions mapping of the old Yantic Woolen Mill in Norwich, CT
Franklin Surveys provided existing conditions mapping services including boundary, topographic, wetlands, and utility surveys of the old Yantic Woolen Mill, also known as the Hale Mill, in Norwich, CT. This was in support of a proposal to turn it into a luxury hotel. After passing hands from buyer to developer, the Yantic hotel project was green-lit by the Historic District Commission in December 2018.
The Mill’s brick stack is visible from Connecticut Route 2 as you enter Norwich from the west and will be preserved as part of this project. It is a great example of mid-19th century textile mill architecture and is a testament to the quality of construction as this mill was built in 1865 and is still standing strong.
The Yantic Woolen Mill building stones are in incredible condition and nearly all of the features are still intact. The mill was powered by water directed from the river by a stone head race that ran from a dam approximately a half mile to the north-west. The head and tail races that control the flow of the water are still intact as well. The picture of the tail race below is taken from the nearby stone bridge over the Yantic River at the confluence of the tail race with the river.
End of the head race entering Yantic Mill 
Tail Race meets Yantic River
Interestingly, during this project our survey crew detected that a CTGS elevation benchmark was erroneous by about 7 inches! After doing additional research and surveying, we reported our findings to CTDOT which resulted in a benchmark correction to reflect the GPS results.
Relevant Links
Norwich, Connecticut – https://www.norwichct.org
Yantic Woolen Mill – https://connecticutmills.org/find/community/yantic-woolen-co.-housing
Norwich Historic District Commission – https://www.norwichct.org/144/Historic-District-Commission
Franklin Surveys – https://franklinsurveys.com/