Code's Mill - Perth, Ontario
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Weathervane
N 44° 53.974 W 076° 15.063
18T E 401225 N 4972554
Founded in 1876, the Code Custom Wool Mills provided employment and world-wide recognition for the town for the next 120 years.
Waymark Code: WM174C5
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 12/08/2022
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Code’s Mill, 53 Herriott Street, 1842–1902
A dispute between neighbours over the pilfering of apples led two Perth businessmen to discussions on opportunities found in the greater world. It was the 1870s, and Sir John A. Macdonald was delivering on his promise to connect Canada from sea to sea. The Canadian Pacific Railway might have been the stuff of political posturing, but its construction revolved around nuts and bolts, picks and shovels, shoes and . . . socks.
A Mr. Ryan, then owner and resident of the Summit House on Drummond Street, complete with a bountiful apple orchard, and T. A. Code, entrepreneur and mill owner on the Tay Basin who had recently located to Perth from nearby Innisville, quickly dispensed with the issue of forbidden fruit to discuss how Ryan’s connections could benefit them both. A contractor, Ryan had a direct line to purchasing agents for the CPR. A woollen-mill owner, Code had the ability to supply what every working man needs no matter where he hangs his hat—warm feet.
From such basic needs as a full belly and dry feet grew one of Perth’s most significant industries. Founded in 1876, The Code Custom Wool Mills provided employment and world-wide recognition for the town for the next 120 years. Along Herriott Street between Wilson and Gore, T. A. Code displayed and built on his success over the following decades: the mill, a collage of five solid masonry buildings built between 1842 and 1902; his home, Kininvie, built in 1906 in honour of his wife Jenny’s birthplace; and a commercial complex, a testament to the hopes and dreams of a new century supported by the achievements of the past.
These landmarks are indeed the fruit of his labours.
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