Balch Mill Burned
New Ipswich Historical Society
News Clipping
July 7, 1941
The saw mill at Gibson Village
and which was an old landmark burned to the ground Thursday at 11 p. m. It was the property of Albro L Balch as it had been his father's before him, and Mr. Balch had worked there all his life. It was built in 1800 and was once a potato starch factory and a cotton mill. It had been in the Balch family since 1878 and Albro Balch bought it in 1910 and worked there daily. He sawed out quantities of lumber. It contained a great deal of machinery, new lathe and boiler, board saws, smaller saws, shingle mill, stave saws, and much more. It was an open mill and the timbers were 16 inches square, braces 8 x 8.
Mr. Balch's loss is $5000 and a total loss. There was also a large amount of fire wood burned. It was so convenient to have a mill of this kind in town and this is the last one. Its loss is felt by all. Less than two weeks before Mr. Balch's mill burned, a similar saw and cider mill about three miles away, just over the line in Ashby, Mass., belonging to Fred Stacey, was also burned. Each fire was of incendiary origin it is believed.
James Roger diary entries
6th November 1912 (Wednesday)
Fair and cooler, wind variable. David harrowing and seeding down the potato ground. I wheeled in some wood into church.
I was thinking about Gibson Village. Its a shame the town removed the green there.
A tragedy. The town has lost too many historical buildings. Albro Balch was a public servant like W D Ashley. If it happened at 11 PM it most likely was due to an arsonist. $5000 was the amount a worker got for 2500 days of labor.