Stone from Silverthorn Mill, Meadowvale, Ontario
N 43° 37.536 W 079° 43.774
17T E 602494 N 4831074
This is a millstone from the defunct Silverthorn Mill.
Waymark Code: WMJF3B
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 11/10/2013
Views: 1
The Credit River Valley of Ontario was originally the home of the Mississauga tribe (a band of the Ojibway native peoples). By 1805 the native peoples had surrendered most of their land to the British Government except for a small strip of land on either side of the Credit River, measuring about a mile on each side. Irish settlers began immigrating into the area from New York and began converting the land to agricultural use. One group of immigrants was led by John Beatty, who settled along Old Derry Road, who is attributed with setting up a saw and carding mill here, which was sold to James Crawford in 1831, and he later sold it to John Simpson. In 1844, Francis Silverthorn purchased the mills and upgraded it. The mill endured some financial hardships while in the hands of Silferthorn, and it was sold to Worts and Golderham, who also owned the Alpha Mills in Streestville. Around 1890 the mill sold to the Wheeler Brothers of nearby Stouffville, and they sold it to Henry Brown around 1897. The mill continued to change hands, ownership moving thru the hands of W.J. Brett, Stanley Gorman and L. Emerson. Eventually the mill again fell into hard times, this time due to the Grand Trunk Railway which by-passed Meadowvale and in doing so, effectively cut off the mill from its customers, and it closed in 1950 and was demolished in April 1954. Some of the concrete foundations are still viewable along the stream, and these were designated a heritage site through the Ontario Heritage Act in 1980. The entire Meadowvale area is actually Ontario’s first Heritage Conservation District. This mill stone is part of that history.
SOURCES:
www.mississauga.ca/portal/residents/allhistoricimages?paf_gear_id=13400033&imageId=5400286n&index=0&returnUrl=/portal/residents/allhistoricimages
(
visit link)
www.mississauga.ca/file/COM/2001MeadowvaleVillage.pdf