Antebellum industry in Perry included gristmills, sawmills, and cotton gins. Parsonsfield had seven sawmills and seven gristmills. Early industry included a number of sawmills, gristmills, steam mills, and cotton gins. These buildings might include schoolhouses, offices, churches, commissary stores, gristmills, and sawmills. Early settlers developed subsistence farming, and used the river for sawmills and gristmills. By 1859, the town had two gristmills and two sawmills. There were also a powder mill, three gristmills and four sawmills in town. The Ashuelot River was later used to provided water power for sawmills, gristmills and tanneries. They built gristmills and sawmills for local use. The outlets of various ponds provided water power for several sawmills and gristmills. The largest industry was the railroads, followed by gristmills then sawmills. Early settlements in the area developed primarily around gristmills and sawmills. The Rahway was once host to a variety of sawmills and gristmills. In 1806, 6 tanneries were operating, along with a sawmill, fulling mill, and 2 gristmills. German immigrants began building hydropowered gristmills and woolen mills along Cedar Creek in the 1840s.