English colonists from Lynn, Massachusetts had settled in Southampton as the puritans spread over the northeast to Connecticut and New York.

Howell was town magistrate and convinced the elders to provide 39 acres on the pond, he also got laborers and funds to aid in building a mill.

Community mills operated on a barter system, where farmers had the miller grind the grist in exchange for 10% and were usually built on public lands.

Archivists also unearthed evidence in the basement of the mill that suggested use at sometime in the past of a horizontal tub water wheel.

Subsequent owners Elias Petty, William Foster, Hugh Smith explored the industrial uses of the mill.

The Benedict family subsequently used the building for dyeing, spinning, weaving and fulling wool cloth.

When the LIRR began operating nearby water to the mill was reduced, in 1892 the Benedicts installed a red windpump windmill to aid in grinding.