Huntington Gorge / Deaths at the Huntington Gorge

Site of Richmonds first grist mill, electric generating plant By 1802, John Preston had built a grist mill here at Richmonds best water-power site. It was operated continuously for a century, last of all by the Robinson family. The Richmond Light and Power Co. converted the mill in 1903 to generate the villages first electricity. Other 19th-Century mills here included cider, wool carding and cloth dressing, woodturning, and underclothing. Deaths at the Huntington Gorge: Eighteen people drowned here between 1950 and 1994. Most were swimmers caught by treacherous and deceptive currents that pulled them over the falls or sucked them down to the bottom of pools. Among those who drowned: Marjorie, age 21, 1950; Michael, age 21, 1976; William, 16, 1961; Carol, 21, 1976; Brian, 20, 1969; Charles, 24, 1976; Robert, 19, 1969; Carathray, 24, 1976; Daniel, 19, 1969; Scott, 18, 1985; Robert, 21, 1971; Kevin, 21, 1992; Robert, 25, 1972; Gary, 35, 1992; Dennis, 19, 1973; Cathy, 36, 1994; Rosemary, 22, 1975; Peter, 32, 1994;