Residents' Soundings On Needlers Mill, the Dam and the Pond - First Round is Wrapped Up!

This past Monday and Tuesday, Ogilvie, Ogilvie and Company, a company that, as their website states "provides a comprehensive blend of public facilitation and constructive engagement utilizing a team of experienced professionals and specialists", came to Millbrook at the request of ORCA and our Township Offices.

Robb Ogilvie and Ron Kervin, consultants with the above company, were both at the Legion in Millbrook and going door-to-door in the village, gauging peoples' opinions about the future of Needler's Mill, the dam and the pond.

This blog site is confident that the overwhelming majority of people they spoke to were supportive of keeping all three and restoring the Mill as well. There will be two more opportunities coming in October and early November to provide continuing input to this critical issue. Millbrook Cavan Historical Society will do everything they can to ensure all of you are in the loop. Ogilvie and Ogilvie's final report to ORCA and Cavan Monaghan Township is expected to be delivered in late November.

If you didn't have the opportunity to receive their questionnaire, please email the Historical Society at mchs@nexicom.net, or call 932-2720. We want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to contribute to this process. If you would like to request it directly from Ogilvie and Ogilive, please email Robb Ogilvie at robb.ogilvie@mobalizers.com, or call him toll free at 1-866-38-MOBAL (1-866-386-6225). You can also call Ron Kervin at 705-743-9864, or email him at ron.kervin@mobalizers.com.

To that end, we distributed a two-page flyer, both at the Zucchini Festival and by email blast last weekend. If you would like a copy of that, please let us know!

Your Historical Society is confident that this firm has the experience and knowledge to do what they have been hired to do and that their final report will truly reflect the thoughts, memories, dreams and aspirations of the people they spoke with.

Remember, its only history as long as someone continues to tell the story!

Memories From the Manor


Had the great opportunity to meet up with some of the residents in Millbrook Manor who had memories of Needlers Mill while growing up here in the Township. It became clear very fast that the Mill just doesn't mean a lot to those from the village - it also means a lot to those who live in Cavan Township. The following are some of those memories.


"My dad was a grinder there and I worked there as a teen. One thing the Mill did well was sawing the hardwood for the runners of the local stone boats - you know, the flat sleds farmers used to pull behind horses. They used the sleds to clear their fields of stones. The stone walls you see across this Township were probably made because of sled runners made here at the Mill."


"The Mill was a vibrant business. If not sawing and grinding, it stored coal there that was brought in by train. They also made use of all the sawdust. In the winter time, they cut big chunks of ice from the pond for all of the stores. They all had ice houses out back. They used the sawdust to keep the ice cold all summer long."


"I can remember what was there before the arena. When I was young, there was an outdoor rink, 2 houses and a pig pen."


"I remember me and a couple of my girlfriends would come down from the old school house during lunch time in the spring and watch the men pull the logs from the pond up into the sawmill."


"There was a wagon trail that went completely around the pond. It was used by Mr. Attwooll to travel to and from his house on Prince Street."


"My great-grandfather owned the mill that used to on the Farmers Pond between King Street West and Anne Street."


"There was a lot of good fishing back when I was little. There was an 18' deep hole at the bottom of the sluice. That was the place to fish in the summer."


"The mill was critically important for all of the farmers in the Township. They needed lumber sawn and grain ground. It was a busy place, the village. The farmers would bring in what they needed ground, and then they'd go and meet other friends and farmers in the village waiting for the job to be done."


"I can remember a incident that happened on the pond when were returning from Church. Jack Crowley was all dressed in his Sunday best clothes and he saw some men standing on the logs in the pond. He said "that's easy to do!" and proceeded to fall into the pond up to his neck wearing his Sunday suit!"


These memories are priceless and demonstrate that not everything has to disappear completely before we miss it being gone forever.

Resident's Soundings

Resident's Soundings - The Future of the Millbrook Dam and Needler's Mill

Well, the Resident's "Soundings" have begun. Maybe you were one of the lucky ones to be interviewed by ORCA or their Consultant during the week of September 14th. We hope you made it down to the Legion on the 14th or 15th to express your views about the importance of Needlers Mill to the whole Township.

Millbrook Cavan Historical Society has been assured by ORCA that this is just the initial phase.

If you want to impress upon our Councillors how important this Heritage building is, call them! Let them know!

All too often, municipalities think in strictly physical terms - not heritage, historical or economic.

History sells - short and sweet. A restored Mill will bring people, and businesses, into this Township. It'll bring tourists spending money. It will bring people who may decide to settle in the Green Hills, or to retire here. It is this type of heritage that will encourage them.

There are way too many examples to list here of Mills that have been 'determined' by those in power that a structure can't be saved, but have, in fact, been saved to the betterment of the whole community. Just take a look at Hope Mill and Lange Mill in Peterborough County. Take a look at the Old Stone Mill in Delta, Ontario (http://www.deltamill.org/index.html).

Or better yet, what about the Life Force Mill in Cavan Town, Cavan County, in Ireland - our twinned municipality? Now there is a story! And one that could be replicated here!

Unfortunately, hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it?

What do you think? Should the Mill and Dam be saved? Or should they go? Will Millbrook, and the Township, be better off with one less historical building and one less chapter of history no one will remember?

Its your decision this time!

This message was recently posted on the Heritage webpage of the Township's website.

Message from the Heritage Committee Chair to the community on restoration of the Needler’s Mill

This message is to address the growing concern in our community about restoring the historic Needler’s Mill in Millbrook. As the Chair of the Council Committee on Heritage, I understand the community’s attachment to the Needler’s Mill. The Needler’s Mill is a standing monument that embodies Millbrook’s rich cultural heritage.
In the recent past, Council did a tour of the Needler’s Mill and agreed that it is a priority to address the deteriorating condition of the Needler’s Mill. The Township and the Otonabee Regional Conservation are communicating on the issue. There are ongoing discussions about solutions that can salvage and restore the property.
The Heritage Committee has also strongly recommended that the Cavan Millbrook Historical Society gather community support for strengthening the lobby for restoration of the Mill structure.The Needler’s Mill is a great heritage asset for not only Millbrook and but also this region in the province. The Heritage Committee acknowledges this.
The Committee will endeavor to the best of its ability, with expected community support, to salvage this historical monument.

Heritage Committee Chair Brian Bartlett
Councillor North Monaghan Ward

Please take a couple of minutes to leave a comment at the bottom of this Post. Just click on the 'comment's link and leave one for everyone to read. Feel free to leave your full name, your first name, or submit it anonymously. Your participation in the saving of this defining piece of local architecture is critical.

Does Heritage define a community? If we lost all of our history and memory, would we be less off? Your Historical Society thinks you would be. Do you have any memories of Needlers Mill? Do you parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents? What reminiscences do you have about growing up here and always seeing the Mill there? What family stories can you tell about living in this Township?

Please take a few minutes to read through this post, then post a comment or memory yourself at the bottom.

In order to start the conversation going, we've included a report from the Historical Society's recent Annual General Meeting.

At the Annual General Meeting two weeks ago, Millbrook Cavan Historical Society was pleased to have Bob Shafer, owner/operator of the Mill in Tyrone, speak to the members and general public about the importance, and challenges, of preserving and using old mills. Speaking from the heart, as well as experience, Mr. Shafer spoke of the Mill that he has owned in Tyrone Mills since 1979. The Mill in Tyrone is one of Canada's oldest water powered mills, built in 1846. The complex presently includes a saw mill and a flour mill.

Using pictures and drawings depicting operations behind 18th century flour mills and the history of restoration and renovation to his mill, Mr. Shafer entertained the crowd with stories and anecdotes of what it takes for an entrepreneur to establish and continue to run a business with so much history behind it.

A quick, abbreviated history lesson may be required for Needler's Mill in Millbrook. In 1816, John Deyell came from Ireland and established himself in Cavan. Beside a little creek, he and his brother James financed and built a grist mill; and the mill by the brook gave Millbrook its name. There is also speculation the mill ground grain for the production of whiskey - hence the name 'Distillery Street'. But no definitive proof of that type of operation has yet come to light. Deyell's Mill burnt down in 1857 (a fate of many early mills) and the property was sold to Walker Needler who, at the time, also owned and operated a grist mill and saw mill on Baxter Creek in what is now Cedar Valley. Mr. Needler built another 3-storey flour mill on the Deyell site as well as a home, which is still standing at 7 Anne St. This mill, too, succumbed to fire in 1909, at which time Mr. Needler dismantled the south half of the mill in Cedar Valley and moved it to the Mill Pond site. Needler's Mill is the last remaining mill in the Township and one of only a handful remaining in the Province which is salvageable and restorable. According to an historical story in the Peterborough Examiner in 1958, the mill turned out a fine quality flour with the trade name "White Rose". The flour was sold in local grocery stores and in Peterborough. In 1967 the property was sold to the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority (ORCA) who were interested in preserving the water levels. They had also hoped to restore the mill the cooperation of the Millbrook Council of the day. ORCA still owns the Mill to this day.

Mr. Shafer recognized the benefits of our local Mill. "You have incredible rolling countryside, a beautiful setting here in the village, with a busy, historically relevant downtown core, parkland next to the Mill. It's accessible to tourists - it's worth preserving", he said. He also told the crowd how important it is for the community to get behind the restoration and preservation of the Mill. "The residents of the Village and the Township have to be educated on why the Mill is worth restoring and they need to be behind whatever restoration efforts develop". Although Mr. Shafer has not undertaken any economic benefit study to gauge the impact of the his mill on the village of Tryone Mills, he is confident that both the mill and the village have benefited from each others' activities, based on what he has heard and seen. "The preservation of heritage structures continue in our village to this day", he said. "The residents understand how important history and heritage is to the village and that is what draws other people to the area."

After the formal part of the meeting wrapped up, many of the people attending the Annual General Meeting had an opportunity to talk with Mr. Shafer personally. He had the same message for everyone he spoke with. "Needler's Mill enhances the whole Township, so the challenge will be to create an environment where people want to participate in, and be involved with, the future of the Mill." He spoke from personal experience when he told them that any restoration will be an on-going effort - not just a one-time expense. "Like any heritage structure anywhere, whether it be a home, business or other structure, there will be a need for continual maintenance if the people want to preserve it. The Township will need to use it or lose it", he said. He also recognized the incredible potential a mill of that kind could be to the Township. "A restored Mill would bring many more people to this area", he said. "Busloads of people come out of Toronto on day trips and stop at Tyrone Mill throughout the summer. There is no reason why Millbrook couldn't be another stop for those buses, and the Mill would be a big draw. The Township would benefit from this visibility as would the businesses".

The Millbrook Cavan Historical Society believes Needler's Mill is an integral part of the past and future of this Township and is committed to doing what they can to raise awareness and educate all the residents of the Township - both young and old. To that end, the Society will work closely with individuals, community groups, the Heritage Committee, Township Council, Otonabee Region Conservation Authority and the media to make this happen.

If you support the Millbrook Cavan Historical Society, please let them know. You can email them at mchs@nexicom.net or call 932-3003 or 932-2720.

Remember, its only history if someone continues to tell the story. And we are, after all, only trustees for those that come after us.