Bookmill

{{Infobox company

| name = The Bookmill

| logo = Montague - The Bookmill.jpg

| type = Private

| genre =

| foundation =

| founder = Jim Murphy/ Allan Ross

| location_city = Montague, Massachusetts

| location_country = U.S.

| location =

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| key_people =

| industry =

| products = Books

| services =

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| homepage = [http://www.montaguebookmill.com/ Official website]

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}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Alvah Stone Mill

| nrhp_type = hd

| nocat = yes

| image =

| caption =

| location = Montague, Massachusetts

| locmapin = Massachusetts#USA

| area =

| built = 1834

| architect =

| architecture = Greek Revival

| added = June 30, 1997

| refnum = 97000562{{NRISref|2008a}}

| nrhp_type2 = cp

| partof = Montague Center Historic District

| partof_refnum = 01001236

| designated_nrhp_type2 = November 16, 2001

}}

The Bookmill (sometimes Book Mill) is an independent bookstore in Montague, Massachusetts. The 1834 grist mill it occupies is listed as the Alvah Stone Mill on the National Register of Historic Places.

The store's motto is "Books you don't need in a place you can't find,"James Sullivan (2006), "Ring Around the Reservoir," The Boston Globe, January 15, 2006, p. M13 and it claims to have "40,000 books and one waterfall." Housed in a 19th-century former gristmill, The Boston Globe called it "a magnet for bibliophiles from the nearby Amherst-Northampton Five College area".Davis, William A. (1996), "Treasures of Turners Falls," The Boston Globe, June 15, 1996, "Living" section, p. 21 In 2005, the Globe devoted an entire article to the bookstore, quoting the owner as saying, "We're not particularly convenient, we're not particularly efficient, but we're beautiful."Albernaz, Ami (2005), "Books, Board Games, Bliss—Pioneer Valley Bookstore Prides Itself on Quirks and Homespun Character." The Boston Globe, January 30, 2005, "Travel" section, p. M11. [http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/01/30/books_board_games_bliss] The article opens: "Of the many quirks in the Montague Bookmill, a bookstore and cafe just outside Amherst and Northampton, perhaps the most serendipitous are on its bathroom walls. Hundreds of clippings and pinups vie for attention: 'Author Mailer's Wife Fighting For Her Life,' blares the headline of the yellowed New York Post article from 1960, above the subhead stating that Norman Mailer denies stabbing her in the back and abdomen with a pen knife. 'President Frank Zappa in 1992! The Only Sane Choice,' proclaims the poster directly above the toilet. Then there is the Star exclusive photo of Daryl Hannah's fake finger, Abbie Hoffman urging political activism in young people, and a Hungarian transportation map."

The New York Times has described The Bookmill as "the valley's most pristine ambiance for just plain readers" and praised "the Book Mill's cafe, where the baked offerings are superior, as is the view of the rushing waters and the evergreens on the opposite bank, sharply edged against the snow."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/13/books/weekend-excursion-every-town-is-one-for-the-books.html?sec=travel&pagewanted=print|title=WEEKEND EXCURSION; Every Town Is One for the Books|author=Peter Hellman|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1998-03-13|accessdate=2006-09-28}}

Comedian John Hodgman frequents the Bookmill. In a 2013 interview Hodgman claimed "...most dear to my heart The Book Mill and Lady Killigrew in Montague. That’s a used bookstore and great cafe where I would spend every hour of every day even if they didn’t have Wi-Fi, and they do."{{cite web |url=http://www.paradisecitypress.org/2013/10/29/john-hodgman-western-mass-culture-local-music-food-internet/ |title=Paradise City Press John Hodgman on Western Mass Culture : Local Food, Music and Internet |website=www.paradisecitypress.org |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429050122/http://www.paradisecitypress.org/2013/10/29/john-hodgman-western-mass-culture-local-music-food-internet/ |archive-date=29 April 2014 |url-status=dead}}

Building history

The Bookmill is located at one of the oldest sites in Montague with an industrial history, and is first identified as a mill site in a 1764 map. The central portion of the current building dates to 1834, when the then-standing mill, a grist mill, was rebuilt to also perform the carding and fulling of wool. The foundation of this portion, which houses traces of the old water power works, is of 18th century origin. In 1934, the mill was converted into a machine shop by the Martin Machine Company, which operated here into the 1980s.

In 1987 Jim Murphy and Allen Ross purchased the property and turned it into the bookmill. They built a deck overlooking the Sawmill River. In the building with The Montague Bookmill were restaurants, including The Blue Heron, and other specialty stores and cafes throughout the years, including The Sawmill River Arts Gallery which is a collective of fifteen local artists and celebrating its 10th year in 2020.

David Lovelace and John Petrovato bought the bookmill property in 1992 and it changed hands again in 1999, when Mark Beaubien took ownership.{{cite web|url=https://mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=mnt.i|title=NRHP nomination for Alvah Stone Mill|publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts|access-date=2016-02-15}}

File:5266 bookmill small.jpg|"Of the many quirks in the Montague Bookmill, a bookstore and cafe just outside Amherst and Northampton, perhaps the most serendipitous are on its bathroom walls."—The Boston Globe, 2005

File:Sawmill River Arts beside the Bookmill in Montague.jpg|Sawmill River Arts beside the Bookmill

File:Bookmill.jpg|alt=Bookmill and adjacent sandwich shop|Bookmill and adjacent sandwich shop