BETHEL – Jim and Linda Auman of Warren, N.J., and Norway, have presented the Bethel Historical Society with scale models of the Bethel Manufacturing Co.’s mill, hose house and finishing house, which once stood between Cross Street and the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Bethel Hill village.

The detailed models were built by Jim Auman based on photographs and Sanborn insurance maps provided by the historical society.

Dating from 1886, the mill (once known as the Bethel Chair Factory), was the largest of the structures and burned in 1944. Originally, a wide variety of chairs, including Shaker rockers, were manufactured, but after 1916 the mill was converted to spool production.

The finishing house, located closer to the tracks, stood until 1996, when, as the town’s oldest industrial building, it was demolished by Bethel Station Limited Partnership. The small hose house met a similar fate a few years ago.

The models are featured in the society’s “Bethel: A Historic Town” exhibit, which includes a scale model of Bethel’s Grand Trunk Railway Station, also created by Jim Auman.

The Bethel exhibit is available to the public year-round from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. weekends during July, August and December. For more information on the society’s current or upcoming exhibits, call 824-2908 or visit the Web site at www.bethelhistorical.org.