The Lorillard Snuff Mill, a stone building beside the Bronx River

Tunnel, bridge & industryThe Bronx

Lorillard Snuff Mill, the Bronx’s Stone Tobacco Mill

The Lorillard Snuff Mill, today named the Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill, was built around 1840 beside the Bronx River and is a National Historic Landmark. It sits within the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, a quiet reminder that a famous tobacco family once ran a factory in what is now a landscape of gardens and woodland.

The oldest surviving tobacco manufacturing building in the United States is not in Virginia or the Carolinas. It is a stone mill beside the Bronx River, tucked inside a botanical garden.

WhereBronx, inside the New York Botanical Garden in Bronx Park, beside the Bronx River

TypeHistoric stone mill and National Historic Landmark

Best forIndustrial history, riverside photography, a stop during a garden visit

Getting thereInside the New York Botanical Garden grounds; the building is used for offices and catering, so check the garden’s current access rules

The history of the Lorillard Snuff Mill and the Lorillard family

Snuff is powdered tobacco, and the Lorillard firm that made it was founded in 1760 by Pierre Abraham Lorillard. After he was killed during the American Revolutionary War, his two sons, Peter and George, took over the business. In 1792 they moved the manufacturing side of the company to this spot in the Bronx.

The mill that survives today was built around 1840 next to the Bronx River to supplement an earlier building that did the same work. Its walls are made of schist, a rock quarried locally. Peter Lorillard III also built a forty-five-room mansion, a stone cottage and stables nearby. The mansion burned in 1923.

The Lorillard company and family left the Bronx property in 1870, when they moved the business to Jersey City, New Jersey. New York City bought the land in 1884, and the area became part of Bronx Park. The New York Botanical Garden was established by the state legislature in 1891 on part of the former Lorillard estate and a neighboring parcel. The mill itself stayed with the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, which used it for storage and workshops, until it was transferred to the Botanical Garden in 1937 along with several small parcels.

The mill was renovated between 1952 and 1954, when a café and patio were created on the side facing the river and a meeting room was made from the space that once held the snuff-grinding equipment. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and went through a major restoration in 2010. Today it is used for staff offices and catering.

Little-known facts about the Lorillard Snuff Mill

It is described as the oldest existing tobacco manufacturing building in the United States.
The schist rock of its walls was quarried locally, near the river it stands beside.
The Lorillard firm dates back to 1760, and its founder, Pierre Abraham Lorillard, was killed during the American Revolutionary War.
Peter Lorillard III built a forty-five-room mansion near the mill; it burned in 1923.
The building is now officially known as the Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill.
Both the mill and the New York Botanical Garden that surrounds it are National Historic Landmarks.

Tours near Lorillard Snuff Mill

Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:

City of Contrasts Tour-Manhattan, Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn

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Visiting the Lorillard Snuff Mill inside the Botanical Garden

The mill stands within the grounds of the New York Botanical Garden in Bronx Park, so it is seen as part of a garden visit. Check the garden’s current opening hours and access rules before you go.
The building is used for staff offices and a catering facility, so do not expect a museum inside; check what, if anything, is open to visitors.
Its position beside the Bronx River makes the riverside view, with the stone walls and the water, the main reason to stop.
Nearby sights in the site’s guide include the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage and the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, both a short trip away.

Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.

Map: where Lorillard Snuff Mill is

Photos of Lorillard Snuff Mill

Historic photograph linked to the Red Cross in New York, from the U.S. National Archives

Second historic Red Cross photograph from New York, from the U.S. National Archives

Old color view of New York City from a historic print series

Questions

What is the Lorillard Snuff Mill?

It is a stone mill built around 1840 beside the Bronx River, in the New York Botanical Garden. It is the oldest surviving tobacco manufacturing building in the United States.

Can you visit the Lorillard Snuff Mill?

It stands inside the New York Botanical Garden, so it is reached through the garden. The building is used for offices and catering, so check the garden’s current access rules before you go.

Who built the Lorillard Snuff Mill?

The Lorillard family, who ran a tobacco firm founded in 1760. The brothers Peter and George moved production to this site in 1792, and the current mill dates from around 1840.

What is snuff?

Snuff is powdered tobacco. It was the product ground at this mill.

Why is the mill inside a botanical garden?

The Lorillard family left in 1870 and the city bought the land in 1884. The garden was established in 1891 on part of the former estate, and the mill was transferred to it in 1937.

Is the Lorillard Snuff Mill a landmark?

Yes. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977, and the New York Botanical Garden that surrounds it is a landmark too.