Taken from the Windham side of the Presumpscot River, this image shows the "Charcoal House" and several storage buildings that were part of a large complex known as the Oriental Powder Mills. The Mills operated during the 19th and into the early part of the 20th centuries, manufacturing gunpowder. During the Civil War, 25 percent of the Union powder came from Oriental Powder Mills.

The Charcoal House and storage buildings sat on a small island in the river, now mostly submerged. Visible in the left foreground are a log boom and floating logs awaiting discharge through the log sluiceway gate.