A glen is a deep, narrow, secluded valley. This part of South Portsmouth has been named “the Glen” almost since the founding of Portsmouth. It is the ancient home of water powered grist mills, carding and fulling mills and factories. The mill run leads to the Sakonnet. When the British cut down all the trees in Portsmouth, the Glen was too steep for them to cut. In the mid 1800s the Glen was a favorite picnic spot. People would come to enjoy the shade, write poetry, paint and draw. Currier and Ives pictures the Glen at its best. Unfortunately, the Glen is privately owned and you can no longer walk the carriage paths across the brook. The mill pond is gone, too, after the dam burst around 1979. Walking through Glen Farm Road you can get a since of the Glen of the past.

A family has done a beautiful job of restoring a structure that was built on the foundations of an old mill. I can’t get a proper Then and Now shot from the same side, but you get an idea of the mill pond that used to be.