Saturday May 2, 2015
It was 18 degrees with just occasional clouds. I had the occasion to meet my parents and an older brother in Orillia for breakfast. West of Orillia is the village of Marchmont, named after the Earl of Marchmont. It grew up as a small farming community where the mill served initially to grind grain then primarily as a feed mill preparing food for local farmers for their livestock. Other local industries such as the blacksmith also served the needs of the farmers in the adjacent land grants.
Some records indicate a government operated mill here as early as 1834 built to provide employment for local natives. This didn’t work as expected and by 1843 the mill was sold into private hands. When the original mill burned in1884 the town went without one for about three years. A new mill was built in 1887 by Charles Powley who installed two runs of mill stones. He used one for grinding flour and one for making livestock feed for the local farmers. In 1947 it was converted to a full time feed mill and the flour rollers were removed. The mill records indicate 13 different people operated the mill until it closed for good in 1987. It has been used as a private residence since 1989. In the picture below the dam on the North River creates the beautiful Marchmont mill pond. The residents used the pond for swimming in the summer and skating in the winter.
Water flows out of the mill pond and over the dam to maintain the water level in the mill pond. When the mill was in operation water was allowed out of the pond and through a flume to the water wheel. The original wooden flume was replaced in 1910 with the present metal one which is four feet in diameter. It runs under Marchmont Road and into the mill. Before the mill was closed the aging pipe had sprouted many leaks. In the winter natural ice sculptures 15 feel high would be created around the leaks.
The Marchmont Grist Mill as it appears today in service as a home. The mill is featured in the cover photo as it appeared in the early 1900’s.
The flume is seen entering the side of the mill a few feet above the river level. At first there was a large water wheel here which was later replaced with the more efficient turbines. The water was returned to the river through the chute at the bottom.
The spiral casing for the turbine was connected to the end of the flume. Water is forced into the spiral casing spinning the turbine blades.
The spinning turbine blades power a system of drive shafts, belts and pulleys inside the mill. A chute would be opened with a hand cranked wheel to allow water to flow into a chamber about 30 feet below the lower floor of the mill. When running at full speed the turbine could produce 75 horse power.
Corn was brought in by the wagon load, and later on trucks, to be prepared as food for livestock. It would be dumped into a slot on the floor just inside the door where it would drop into a bin below. Customers brought grains for processing or came to purchase products such as Swift’s Dairy Feed that was produced on site. In this archival photo we see the front side of the mill where customers would have entered. In the background we can see the Baptist Church and then the Blacksmith’s house.
Marchmont Baptist church celebrated it’s 127th Anniversary this past weekend. It’s formation dates back to 1877 when church meetings were held in people’s homes. Jacob Powley owned a town lot just to the west of the mill pond. He sold it for $1.00 for the purpose of erecting a church. In October 1888 thrity-one members of Orillia Baptist Church formed the new congregation that came to be known as Marchmont Baptist Church. In 1923 the church numbered 61 and had outgrown the building. The abandoned Gospel Hall was purchased and moved as an addition to the back of the church. In 1962 a new church lot was acquired in trade for the old lot and building. The cemetery in town belongs to the Baptist Church but is dated to 1832. This contains the earliest settlers and came under the care of the Baptist church at a later date. The old church building is gone but the owner of the house pictured below has added a considerable history of the place in the comments at the end of this post.
Across the lane from the old church building stands the former blacksmith shop and an 1860 home from it’s former owner.
Built of local logs in the 1840’s, this house is the oldest one in Marchmont and one of the oldest on it’s original site in Ontario. It is currently in use as an artist’s studio.
This old board and batten building has the appearance of being an old garage. The White Rose sign contains the logo for a Canadian motor oil company with roots to the early 1900’s. By the 1920’s they were opening up stations to serve the growing need for gas for cars.
Old gas pumps stand beside the old garage. Imperial Oil is Canada’s second biggest oil company, operating under the brand name Esso.
Built in 1898 the old union school building has also been converted into a residence.
It was nice to get out of town and see an historic community that hasn’t been surrounded by development. It should take the GTA a few more years before it expands to the point that high rises are needed in Marchmont.
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My father was the last operator of the grist mill me and my 2 brothers were the last generation who worked in the mill i will post some stories when i have a bit of time my mother still lives on the mill pond and i recently purchased the old white house which was a post office and convience store
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Your remarks about my house in Marchmont being converted from the old Baptist Church are not correct. My house was next door to the church and my front lawn is where the church stood. The Wassenaar family traded a piece of the farm where the new church was built. There apparently was a shed on my garden because when my wife and I moved here in 1970 the soil was rich and needed no fertilizing. That is where the church goers parked their horses. My house was a commercial building, built typically two feet from the road allowance and in line with the General Store. Premier Leslie Frost states in the first chapter of his book FIGHTING MEN that Company C had its farewell dinner served in the upstairs of my house before departing for England and WWI. Other famous persons have visited my house: Tommy Douglas slept there the night before delivering the centennial sermon at the old West Street Baptist in Orillia. Stephen Lewis, former leader of the Ontario NDP and Canadian ambassador to the U.N., and later appointed by Kofi Annan as UN ambassador on the AIDS pandemic, visited several times. His wife, journalist Michele Landsberg, addressed a women’s group in my sitting room. My wife and I added to the house and renovated it. Every room but one is a room with a view. Every prospect pleaseth. And the neighbours are fine too. In 1970 grass grew down the middle of Marchmont Road. Only two or three years ago it was surfaced properly. There were 15 houses then, two were torn down, but now there must be about a hundred or more. I live in what we locals describe as downtown Marchmont. Over the decades Marchmont has absorbed more territory. It used to cluster around the mill and the bridge but now it extends to Division Road, Marchmont School, and apparently sprouted suburbs. I see you also did not learn about the sawmill that once existed below and behind my house. The timbers that built mine were likely sawn there in 1870. The mill dam has been rebuilt, but water through the flume not longer turns machinery. Rudy Meeks bought it a few years ago and has converted it into a beautiful and charming house. Rudy must now be close to 90; he was three times old-time fiddler champion of Canada. He still plays. He makes violins, and some great musicians own a Meeks violin. Last time I was in his house there were six or eight of them lined up on his dining room table.
Thanks Roger! I’ll be able to correct my story plus you’ve added a lot of additional information. That’s so cool. My father, William Cook, pastored at Marchmont Baptist Church and lived for awhile in the house next door.
My name is Carol Carr nee Powley. Charles Powley was my great grandfather and Jacob Powley was my great-great grandfather. I visited Marchmount several years ago and had the pleasure of meeting Rudy Meeks. He let me see inside the mill and I also saw his many violins. I also visited the cemetery where many of my descendants lie. I also met Darlene Mattie who owned the old white log house. I have a picture of it in my family history collection which shows several ladies standing in front. I understood this was once a store. In a school picture there are many pupils of Powley lineage. Jacob was a United Empire Loyalist and he received a land grant in Kingston. Many Powley’s resided in Marchmont. Charles moved to Orillia and died there in 1916.
Hello, I am pleased to read your remarks as I have studied the early ear of Orillia and the Coldwater and Narrow Indian reserve. I live in the two storey board and batten house with the green roof next to the bridge. Darlene Mattie is my next door neighbour. Her house is close to the pond. It used to be a small white cottage but has had many additions. The log house you refer to is across the street from the house that used to be a store and post office. I came to the village in 1971. The log house is now owned for many years by the artist Dave Beckett. He too added to the log house, and built a studio at the back of his property. You can view is art on line; he works in pastels and is very well known across the country. The hamlet is now changing with much new construction, but there still is abundant wild life on the pond: swans, geese, ducks, herons, and the occasional bear, muskrat, and fisher. Fortunately the resident coyote is no longer resident.
BTW. The church used to be on my front lawn. My house which is pictured above was built in 1870. I added an addition about 30 years ago. It was originally a commercial designation. According to Lesley Frost’s Fighting Men, Company C Grey and Simcoe, was the upstairs held the farewell dinner before the soldiers left in WWI. The church property was swapped the Wassenaars, the previous owner of my house. Of note too Tommy Douglas slept in my house the night before he delivered the centennial sermon of the West Street Baptist Church in Orillia. He was an exceedingly charming guest and modest man.
Hi Marchmont folks. Do any of you have access to information about the history of the running of the grist mill? I believe that my grandfather, George T PATTERSON, ran the mill in the early 1900s, but I haven’t yet found anything written about his being there. I’d appreciate any help that you can offer. Thanks
http://www.marchmontpark.com/the-marchmont-mill.html
There are lots of Patterson’s in the area. He may have worked as a miller; I don’t have any paperwork stating many employee names My father Joe Charpontier was the last actual miller.
Joseph Patterson owned the mill in 1899-1906 and i believe the saw there is a book called milles and mill villages of Severn Township has lots of information
I came across The Mill on Airbnb. My family and I had the pleasure of staying there for a couple of days.
We arrived home today from our little stay at the Mill, and, I’m left feeling very curious and would love to learn more on the history of this Mill and quaint hamlet.
Throughout the house there’s many of Rudy’s fiddler trophies and his belongings. Yet, apparently Rudy has passed on and it’s owned by someone else now? It’s a beautiful home with such interesting details and history. I would love to learn more.
Unfortunately Rudy has passed on now but it is still owned by a family member. The mill and the village has a great history. I grew up in a little brown house across from the cemetery ( now rebuilt) but in it’s day it was the grain storage area for the mill. My family bought it in the ‘82 and at that time it wasn’t uncommon to still see farmers bring there horse drawn wagons through the village to the mill.
Marchmont had a large Huron settlement, The university of Toronto did an architectural dig on the general store property (which my husband and I owned until recently) in the late 1960’s and apparently found many artifacts as well as signs of where long houses used to stand. Marchmont was in its day apparently meant to be the main town in the area. The train was originally meant to travel through or close to the village but when the train was diverted and developed it orillia instead, marchmont was considered a failed settlement.
Maybe you’ll find some of this interesting. It’s a hidden gem.