There was a sawmill here very early . . . The sawmill, which is mentioned in a deed of 1730, had been removed by 1746 when a group of Kingston men bought of John Brewster "innholder," the right to establish a gristmill on the site. The grist-mill served the community until about 1866, when it was removed by Caleb Bates to allow for the enlargement of the pond. The machinery was put in a building on the lower dam and continued to grind for many years longer. In 1805, the grist-mill and privilege and a blacksmith shop which had been built close by were bought by Seth Washburn and Deacon Seth Drew. They took into partnership Thomas Cushman and started the Stony Brook Iron Works, making augers and doing ships' blacksmithing in one building, and grinding corn in the other when there was grist to grind. In 1815, Thomas Cushman sold an interest in the works to Nahum Bailey, "Old Uncle Nahum" as he was called, who had been making augers in a little shop on the Boston Road . . .

Those were the days when apprentices were taken, boys of working age who learned the trade, while the master made what profit he could from their labor after they became somewhat proficient. Deacon Seth Drew taught his own sons, Job and Christopher, and he and "Uncle Nahum" took in Thomas Bailey as one of their apprentices.

All this time, the various industries were going on in the two small buildings which stood on an island in the midst of what is now the mill pond. When Christopher Drew "came out of his time" in 1836, business was rather dull. His father, Deacon Seth, suggested that the boys take their time, he furnishing materials and money, and build a little shop for themselves. They did so, running a flume out to the north-east of the other works and setting their building where the front part of the Drews' main shop now stands, the front gable indicating the width of the original shop. In 1837, Christopher P. Drew and Thomas Bailey, with Deacon Seth to back them, started business in the new shop as C. Drew & Company. Deacon Seth Drew and his son Job continued to do ships' blacksmithing, using the same building and power, but as a seperate concern. Time went on and Nahum Bailey sold out his interest to Caleb Bates. Mr. Bates began to make great changes and improvements. He removed the old buildings, built the present stone dam, enlarged the pond to more than double its former capacity and erected buildings on the south side of the pond which were leased to Hall Brothers & Company (later known as The Old Colony Rivet Works). He also threw a dam across the stream below the auger works, and built a building there in which he set up the machinery of the old gristmill and in which he also made shingles. About 1900, after Mr. Bates' death, the whole property came into the hands of the Drews once more. Besides providing for their own needs, the owners have furnished room for several other firms. Reed & Prince, who later removed to Worcester, began business there. Joshua Delano made rivits and burrs in the mill for a time. H.C. & W.S. Cobb and L.E. Ford & Co. tack makers, occupied considerable space, and a few lesser industries have been accomodated there at different times.

Although the place is still popularly called "the auger works," auger-making is a small part of the business, except at such times as there comes a boom in the building of wooden ships. "Manufacturers of Mechanics' Tools" is what they call themselves and the list of tools manufactured covers a great variety of trades.

Two hundred and more years of constant service is the story of the water privilege; one hundred and twenty-one years, the story of the Stony Brook iron works; eighty-nine years, the story of C. Drew & Company as a firm, the senior firm in the Town of Kingston today.