Centennial Dam and Stone Mill | Dedham MA. | L Brady

It’s been a while since I went out on a snowy, rainy day to shoot these. Spring has begun. The original  idea was to demonstrate exposure bracketing but as always, I learn much more. I shot three (3) sets of images, in the bracket, and chose to edit the +.7 EV set, using preview to adjust exposure, contrast and sharpness. For some reason, I found it easier to work up from dark to light. I could have also worked effectively with the 0.7 EV set but the -.7 were too bright.

Today, many filmmakers shoot digital with the most neutral camera settings to allow a wide editing latitude in post. I’m sure professional photographers do this as well.

All these shots were taken with an Xpro1 and 18mm lens. I was a snowy, rainy day, as you can see, and you will actually see snowflakes, rain and the like in the images. lb

Note: click on the images for a more detailed view

A Little History…

Mother Brook, dug through from the Charles River to East Brook in 1637, provided a connection with the Neponset River and a source of waterpower for the town’s all-important corn mill. In subsequent generations, that same waterway provided power to roll copper for American coins, to make paper (in three different mills), to support a brush factory and a wire factory, and to run the first water-driven broad powered loom in the entire world. These industries, combined with other enterprises around the town, gave a tremendous economic impetus to Dedham. By 1845, the town’s manufactories employed over 650 people, and produced such varied goods as cotton, cotton thread, woolens, silk, brooms, furnaces, shovels and hoes, paper, chairs and cabinets, tin ware, sheet iron, vehicles, boots, shoes, saddles and harnesses, cigars, pocket notebooks, and marbled papers. http://dedhamhistorical.org/history/

Centennial Dam
This dam was originally constructed to provide water power to textile mills built at this site. This location was the fourth of five “privileges” (locations where dams could be built) along Mother Brook in Dedham, MA, first designated in Colonial times. Mother Brook connects to and drains the Charles River and empties into the Neponset River. A plaque mounted on the dam indicates that the current structure was built in 1894 and rebuilt in 1994. Earlier structures provided power for mills at this site since the early 1800s (and possibly earlier).
This is an embankment dam, with a spillway constructed of concrete with some stone and brick in the side walls. It is approximately 15 feet high.
Fishing is done in the adjacent brook and pond, but signs in the area advise against eating certain types of fish due to PCB contamination.
Canoes or kayaks are rarely or ever used in the area because of limited water depth and limited practical travel distances.
The dam is adjacent to and effectively enclosed by property of the Mother Brook Condominium Association, a group of 86 residential condominiums. Several of the condo buildings were converted from mill buildings, in 1986-87.http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMCY57_Centennial_Dam_Dedham_MA_USA

Stone Mill
When built in 1835 for the Norfolk Manufacturing Co., this mill was powered by the adjacent Mother Brook flowing over what is now called “Centennial Dam.” It was initially used to manufacture cotton. The building was expanded by Mr. Thomas Barrows in approximately 1865-1870 and used to manufacture wool. It was sold to Merchants Woolen CO. in 1872, to Royal and Frederick Storrs in 1875, and again to Merchants Woolen Co. in 1882. In 1894 it was sold to Cochrane Manufacturing Co. and used to make carpets. At some unknown point, a steam plant was added, remnants of which remain in the basement of the building.
This mill is located at the fourth of five “privileges” along Mother Brook in Dedham where dams and mills were erected, beginning in Colonial times.
This building is now part of the Mother Brook Condominiums. It was converted to condos in 1987 along with several other former mill buildings on this site. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMCYJN_Water_mill_former_Cochrane_Manufacturing_Co_carpet_mill_Dedham_MA

And for you guys and gals that must have a little color in your lives ;-).