Cornell University Forest Home Gristmill Falls On Fall Creek Stock Image

The predominant natural feature of the Forest Home Historic District — and the driving force behind the development of the entire community — is Fall Creek, which first provided hydropower for numerous early industrial concerns during the nineteenth century, and later offered both dramatic and bucolic backdrops for suburban development during the early twentieth century.The hamlet is entirely surrounded by land owned by Cornell University. Several yards east of the bridge is a reinforced concrete dam across the creek, built in 1913 to replace the last of several nineteenth century log dams. Above the dam, Fall Creek is wide and meandering, and is flanked by flat, grassy, bucolic banks of old and new forest.