The best tasting apple cider you can imagine was pressed on October 15. We pressed fresh apples by the truckload while our visitors watched the entire process of making apple cider at the Ralston Cider Mill — and tasted too!

Rondout Woodworking, led by James Kricker, is a unique group of master woodworkers located in Saugerties, NY. Their goal is to deliver a level of craftsmanship that compliments the skills of the 17th to 19th century millwrights, boat builders, and timber framers who originally built the historical structures they work on. Their Website provides some wonderful photos and details about the work they performed at the Ralston Cider Mill.To see photos of the mill before and after it was restored, visit www.rondoutwoodworking.com/Ralston_Mill.html.

(“For the next several decades the building [Ralston Cider Mill] sat idle with weather taking its toll. Large sections of the roof failed, floors collapsed and the heavy machinery started to succumb to gravity. The roof was repaired several years ago but nothing was done to the structure or machinery inside the mill. From the photos you can see the extent of the deterioration inside the mill that had taken place once the building was abandoned. After the roof failed the floor structures were greatly weakened by exposure to the elements. When we started work the building was very unstable and quite dangerous. Our first priority was to create a safe working environment.”) Before Restoration Photos | After Restoration Photosa

“WOW! What a great field trip! Hats off to you and your dedicated team for enabling us to have a wonderful experience. Adults and children alike thoroughly enjoyed themselves! The teachers all just keep saying how GREAT and well planned, organized, informative and educational the entire experience was.”

    — Mendham Township fourth grade teacher

School groups tour the Mill, see history in action and learn about the science of turning water into power. They also press apples on a small hand cranked press, which they find fascinating, and then taste the delicious result in a cup of sweet apple cider.

Once a year, The Ralston Cider Mill provides actual apple pressings using the old mill machinery.