Caledonia Old Mill

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Mill Then and Now

Caledonia is a small town, in the province of Ontario situated on the Canadian Heritage Grand River and is just 15 minutes south of Hamilton. The North and South sides of the town are linked by a nine span bridge (the only one of it's kind in Canada) over the waters of the Grand River. It is this Grand River that, in present day attracts people to it's beauty and great fishing, but historically was a very important mode of transportation and a source of power.
Go back almost 170 years ago to a time when there was no railway or any other means to transport large goods. One look at the width and length of the Grand River (290 km. long) and it did not take long for a company to emerge to take advantage of it's potential. The Grand River Navigation Company spent many years building dams and locks along the river to make navigation possible. Along the river's edge many small towns were created, and in every small town were lots of mills. Flour mills, saw mills, carding mills, woollen mills, grist mills and feed mills. Not too many of these mills still exist today, but here in Caledonia we are very lucky to have one of the remaining.
The Caledonia Mill sits proudly on the south bank of the river, and was built in the early 1850’s by James Little, the local Postmaster and entrepreneur. Mr. Little operated the mill, which at the time was called Balmoral Mills, until 1869 when it was purchased by Daniel McQuarrie and James Thorburn. These two gentlemen were joined by William Munroe and the three went on to purchase another mill directly across the river on the north side. The south side mill was renamed Grand River Mills and the north side mill was named Caledonia Mills. The three men operated these two mills very successfully for approximately a decade until some financial set-backs forced them to sell.
In 1880 the Grand River Mills was sold to members of the Scott family, who in the early 1900's went on to purchase the north side mill. While having ownership of both mills the Scott family created a joint stock company with approximately 100 area farmers and both mills became The Caledonia Milling Co. Three generations of the Scott family operated the mill until early 1960’s.
In 1969 the north side mill burned to the ground.
The mill had been locked up for some years during which time a few attempts were made to restore the building but these proved to be unsuccessful.
Fast forward to present day and let me introduce you to the Caledonia Old Mill Corporation(COMC). A group of hardworking and dedicated volunteers with one goal in mind. Our goal is to restore the Mill and the machinery inside so that you can walk through it’s doors and discover how milling in the late 19th and early 20th century was such an integral part of our heritage.
If you would like to visit the Mill this can be arranged at any time, send me an e-mail.

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