September 28, 2024
The first European in the Blair area was a German Mennonite who settled on a farm in 1800 and owned most of the land that would later become the community. In 1817, Joseph Bowman purchased the property, and in 1830 he built a dam on Bowman Creek (now Blair) to power a sawmill he had built. His son Samuel W. Bowman added a four-story grist mill near the sawmill. The map below from the 1877 County Atlas shows the location of the flour mill circled in green and just on the edge of the hamlet of Blair. This community had a population of approximately 140 in 1855 and included a school built in 1802 as well as a general store and hotel. The post office was opened in 1858. In 1973, Blair, Preston, Helspler and Galt merged to form Cambridge.
There is an interpretive sign at the site which shows the original four-story flour mill, known as Carlisle Mill. In 1851, this mill was capable of producing 7,000 barrels of flour per year. The mill was sold to Peter Sherk in 1866.
The mill was capable of generating 25 horsepower from hydraulic power on its waterwheel. It was decided in 1876 to supplement the power with 15 additional horsepower which would be generated downstream. Samuel’s son Allan built a 9 meter (31 ft) wooden tower about 70 meters (240 ft) across Old Mill Road. This allowed them to harness the power of the stream twice.
Known as the pulley tower, it had a pulley and cable mechanism that connected it to the flour mill and transferred the power across the road.
Water was diverted from the stream to the turbine installed in the sluice at the entrance to the pulley tower.
It turned a gear on a shaft connected to the pulley, which is a grooved wheel. This pulley turned and moved the pulley which carried a cable which crossed the road to the mill. This transferred hydraulic energy from the turbine to the millstones of the flour mill. There are worn grooves on the beams at the top of the tower, although no original machinery remains inside the pulley tower.
Blair Creek has a lower water flow today than before, before the water table was affected by cutting down local forests. After the end of water power in 1954, the sheave tower was abandoned and fell into a state of disrepair. In 1998-1999, the tower was restored and is now a provincially designated heritage structure.
In 1888, Jacob Hilborn purchased the mill and his son John took over in 1902. He ran the mill until 1925. The mechanisms of the flour mill overheated in 1928 and a fire broke out which destroyed the original mill. A new single-story mill was built on the old foundations and operated for several decades. The mill was still in operation in 2000 and was stated to be the oldest independent corn mill in Ontario. Unfortunately, it only lasted three years before being closed.
An old sign on the side of the mill still announces its vocation as a corn mill but there is no longer any ground corn here.
A few meters behind the new mill is the original brick chimney which shows the height of the old mill.
There is an information board on the Blair Creek side that provides basic information about the sheave tower. It is said to be the last remaining sheave tower in Ontario.
If you’re going to Blair to see the Sheave Tower, it’s worth driving through the town to see the historic buildings that still survive intact as Cambridge sprawls around the old town. On the outskirts of the town stands an old manor renovated into an inn.
The story begins in 1858 when Matthew Wilks, from New York, decided to purchase a summer property in Upper Canada. He bought 1,000 acres and built Cruikston Park. His youngest son, Eugene Langdon Wilks, purchased the 29 acres located in the northwest portion of the estate. He added another 76 acres and began building Langdon Hall into his 32-room, 25,000 square foot mansion. Construction was completed in 1902 and after Eugene’s death in 1934, the mansion served two additional generations of the Wilks family. In 1987 it was purchased for conversion into an existing hotel and spa.
There is a lot of history preserved in Blair and perhaps one day we will return and look at some of the historic buildings.
Google Maps link: Blair Sheave Tower
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