mill pond

A mill pond is a small, usually manmade, body of water formed by damming a stream in order to collect water for use on a water-powered mill. Millers used a series of gates to control the flow of water from the pond to the mill (along the "millrace") to adjust the water pressure against the mill's waterwheel. The turning of the waterwheel activated the mechanisms that grind, roll, pound, and saw materials such as wheat and logs. Lumber mills often used their mill ponds as log ponds, which are still used today to store and sort cut timber. Storing "raw" logs in water prevents cracking, warping, and rotting and keeps insects out.