Todmorden Mills
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Todmorden Mills was a small settlement located in the Don River valley in Toronto, Ontario. It started out as a lumber mill in the late 18th century. It grew into a small industrial complex and village before becoming part of East York in the 20th century. Currently the valley site is occupied by a heritage museum and a wildflower preserve.
History
In 1795, the settlement of York in Upper Canada was a small but growing community on the shores of Lake Ontario. In order to supply construction material, Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe granted land on the Don River to the Skinner family for the purpose of building a mill to supply lumber. Simcoe wrote to a friend "A mill should be build thereon". The mill was operated by the Skinners until about 1855 when it was sold to the Taylor family. In 1820 a brewery was built next to the mill and operated by Thomas Helliwell and John Eastwood. The Helliwell family operated it until 1855 when it too was sold to the Taylor family. Todmorden Mills acquired its name from John Eastwood, one of the original brewery owners. His family had emigrated from Todmorden, county Yorkshire in England.The Taylors owned a number of industrial mills in the neighbourhood including the Don Valley Brick Works. Under their ownership the mill was converted to produce felt paper. The mill continued to operate until the 1920s when the building was converted into a riding stable.
In the early 1940s, the site became the location of a small German prisoner of war camp. The camp housed men from the German merchant marine. It was closed in 1945.
In 1965, the mill site was proposed as a centennial project. On May 22 1967 it was opened as the Todmorden Mills Historic Site and started to function as a community museum. Currently the museum maintains four buildings from the original settlement including the old mill and brewery.
In 1991, two local naturalists, Charles Sauriol and Dave Money proposed that a small forested area adjacent to the museum site be turned into a nature preserve. A committee was formed and the Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve was created. Since then the committee has performed restoration in the forest to remove non-native invasive species and restore flowers and trees native to the Toronto area.
References
- Darke, Eleanor. 1995. A Mill Should be Build Thereon: An Early History of the Todmorden Mills. East York Historical Society. ISBN 0920474896
- [Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve]. last accessed July 1 2006
- [20th Century Todmorden: A Community in the Don Valley]. last accessed July 1 2006
External links
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