With assistance from Marybelle Beigh, Westfield Historian
Location: On Little Chautauqua Creek, northwestern Chautauqua County, south of the Village of Westfield, New York.
Starting from Exit 60 on Route 90, follow Route 394 (North Portage Street) south into the Village of Westfield. At 1.3 miles from the exit you will cross Route 20. (Note the statue of Grace Bedell and presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln on the western corner.) Continue southwards on Route 394 (now South Portage Street) for a little under 1 mile and turn right (southwest) onto Old Portage Road. In a short distance Old Portage Road will make a 90 degree turn to the left. Find a place to park along the shoulder of the road in this area. Alternatively you can park in a small parking lot at an overlook for the falls on South Gale Street. The lot is located just under 0.3 of a mile from Route 394 (South Portage Street).
From your parking spot on Old Portage Road walk southwards down the abandoned section of Old Portage Road. Just after crossing a small dirt pile that spans the road, and before crossing the Old Portage Road Bridge over Little Chautauqua Creek, watch for an unmarked trail to your right (west). Follow this very rugged trail down into the gorge. The trail is very steep in spots so use caution. When you reach Little Chautauqua Creek turn left and follow the creek upstream (eastwards) a short distance to the falls.
As you descended into the gorge you undoubtedly noticed what looks like an overlook for the falls. This is actually the remains of an old iron bridge that once spanned Little Chautauqua Creek. While it offers a nice view of the ravine and falls caution is advised as there is no railing. The iron bridge replaced an older wooden bridge that once spaned Little Chautauqua Creek in this area. The iron bridge was removed sometime after 1914.
Glen Mills Falls has two sections with a total vertical drop of 12 feet. The upper section has a 39 foot wide crest and faces to the northwest. It is a very steep cascade with a height of 8 feet. After passing over the upper section Little Chautauqua Creek rushes along a 33 foot long flat area to the 15 foot wide crest of the lower section. The creek is usually confined in a narrow flume on the southern side that has a vertical drop of 4 feet.
Glen Mills Falls is developed in the Northeast Shale Member of the Canadaway Formation. Northeast Shale consists mainly of beds of medium gray shales with a few beds of light gray siltstone. The shale dates from the Upper Devonian Epoch giving it an age of around 372,000,000 years.
Timothy Pope built the first mill at this site in 1820. It was a carding and cloth mill. It was later owned by Hiram Couch and Lester Stone. William Walker, Allen and Emmett Mallory purchased the building in 1850. After repairing damage by a fire they converted it into a gristmill. A later owner of the mill, Charles Rhinehard, changed the name to Glen Mills. The mill was destroyed by fire on Christmas night in 1895.
A short distance upstream of the falls is the Old Portage Road Bridge which was built in 1914. The roadbed was originally laid brick that was later paved over. The arch of the bridge has a span of 30 feet and is 36 feet high.
In October of 1860, eleven year Grace Bedell of Westfield wrote a letter to then presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln. She wrote that if he let his whiskers grow he would look a great deal better for his face is so thin. Lincoln responded to the letter and within a month he grew a full beard. He later met with Grace Bedell at the Westfield train station in February of 1861.
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Starting from Exit 60 on Route 90, follow Route 394 (North Portage Street) south into the Village of Westfield. At 1.3 miles from the exit you will cross Route 20. (Note the statue of Grace Bedell and presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln on the western corner.) Continue southwards on Route 394 (now South Portage Street) for a little under 1 mile and turn right (southwest) onto Old Portage Road. In a short distance Old Portage Road will make a 90 degree turn to the left. Find a place to park along the shoulder of the road in this area. Alternatively you can park in a small parking lot at an overlook for the falls on South Gale Street. The lot is located just under 0.3 of a mile from Route 394 (South Portage Street).
