History of the Building


If you'd like to know about the history of Lilly the Mermaid, just see below.

The core of the building that is Lilly's on the Pond was built by Asa Cole in 1790. It was one of six mills, most of which produced wooden ware such as butter molds, match blocks, lobster traps, clothes pins & split baskets, built during the late eighteenth century along the stream that runs down from Grassy Pond to Poole Pond. This is the oldest mill still being used as a commercial business in Rindge. If you study the wide floor boards by the wedding ring quilt, you will notice some unusual markings: some say they are hoof marks from horses while others contend they are old ax marks.
Initially the building housed a sawmill, a wood turning mill and a shingle mill. During the 19th century, the building served as a grist mill and a forge. It was again a shingle mill at the end of century, owned by Calvin Allen, who donated the land across the road on which the - West Rindge Methodist Church now stands.
Marcus Cleaves took the shingle mill over at about the turn of the century and turned it into a black smith shop. Many of the older residents tell of coming to the shop when they were children to watch Marcus ply his trade. The hurricane of 1938, followed by the flood of 1939 brought down a phenomenal number of trees, and as the U.S. was gearing up for the war effort, the government was buying up lumber, so Marcus Cleaves put 2 and 2 together and converted his forge and smithing shop back into a sawmill -- the building had come full circle. The pine benches for the Cathedral of the Pines were milled here. It was in 1952 that the building would become an eatery, to be known for the next 42 years as "The Old Forge." Doris Gill opened her tea room and ran it until 1958 when Herb Whitney purchased the property and turned it into a full-service restaurant. He added on the foyer and pub. In 1968 Franz & Joan Berger took over the restaurant, serving a mainly German cuisine. The function room and sun room were added, the pub was enlarged, and the tradition of having ducks in the mill pond was initiated to the delight of young patrons who love to feed them. The Win Hodson family of Mason shepherded the property from 1991 to 1994, improving on the walkway around the pond, the physical plant and exterior bridges and returning to a more "American" menu.
In August, 1994, the current owners: Helen & Lee Kendall and Suanne & Luis Yglesias opened the doors of "Lilly's on the Pond," named for a mermaid who lived on the shore of Mill Pond back in the eighteenth century, before the sawmill was even a thought in Asa Cole's head. The fascinating tale was uncovered by the new owners when, immediately after purchasing the property, they went to the Rindge Historical Society files to do research. They were aided in their task by Clara Seymour, who is a niece of Marcus Cleaves.



The Legend of Lilly the Mermaid

Born in the mid 1700's Johnny Lovejoy grew up in Rindge, N.H. Johnny was a shy, quiet, contemplative lad who dreamed of going off to the sea, so when he turned 18, he walked on down to New Bedford and signed on to a whaling ship, whose route took him out around Nantucket.
Occasionally, his ship would sail into Nantucket Harbor. Being a shy lad, Johnny would not go off to the pubs with his fellow sailors; he preferred to venture out into the sand dunes to acquaint himself with the local flora and fauna.
At the same time Lilly lived in the waters off Nantucket, but as any of you know who have seen the movie "Splash," mermaids can take human form, which Lilly would do in order to walk around in the sand dunes, for she was very curious about what life was like on land.
This is how Lilly and Johnny met and fell in love, then decided they would get married and have children; but of course, that raised an issue. Lilly told Johnny she really couldn't have her husband off killing her friends, the whales. Whereupon, Johnny said the only other thing he knew was farmin'. His family had some land on the banks of the Mill Pond in Rindge, N.H., and he and Lilly could go on up there and raise a family. Why, Lilly could even swim in the Mill Pond, which wasn't as big as the ocean, but at least it was water.
So they did, and had six kids. You can see them on the front page of the menu.
But then along came the Revolutionary War, and Johnny had to go off to fight the Battle of Bunker Hill. Now, he told Lilly he would be back, and she knew he would do everything to return to her and the six young'ns. His outfit marched right down Route 119 all the way to Charlestown. When two years later, Lilly still had not seen her Johnny, she was heart-broken, but decided, if she couldn't have her man, she at least had to have her ocean, so she and the six kids hopped in Mill Pond and swum over to Poole Pond and on to Contoocook then up through the tributaries to the Merrimack River (which is one of the few rivers in North America that flows north) and on into the Atlantic Ocean and finally down to her home waters.
But Lilly refused to give up all hope, so she immediately befriended Annabelle, the swan. Now Annabelle was smart and went south every winter. As soon as she came back north every spring; however, she would look up Lilly and fly her up to Mill Pond, just as the ice was breaking up and the banks of the pond were brimming with flowing water. As they touch down, Lilly always calls out, "Has anyone seen my Johnny! Has anyone seen my Johnny!" Over the years Lilly and Annabelle have run into the likes of Henry David Thoreau, The Earl of Fitzwilliam, Willa Cather, Amos Fortune, and many of the local residents of Rindge. Why, every spring, we have a "sighting" party, waiting for Lilly as she continues her faithful quest for her beloved Johnny. And that's the story of Lilly, the mermaid, who lived along the banks of old Mill Pond, way back when, and visits it to this day.

site info

2005-2007 Erik Arvidson & Leon Brassard. Design by Andreas Viklund.