The Morningstar Mill was a working grist mill owned and operated by the Morningstar family in 1872.Today you can visit the Morningstar Mill as a heritage property owned by the City of St. Catherines with partnership with the friends of Morningstar Mill.
The property has several accessible buildings still such as the grist mill and turbine shed, a saw mill, a blacksmith and carpenter's shed and the home of the Morningstar family.
Mountain Mills as it was called operated from 1883 to 1933. It had three turbines. One for the grist mills, another ran the saw mill and third ran a generator which provided private lighting on the property. The grist mill turbine also ran an apple cider mill. There was an orchard of apples, cherries, pears and peaches. Local farmers would bring their horses and wagons and wait for their apples to be pressed into cider. The nearby barn had a team of horses, a cow, chickens and pigs.
To make repairs in the grist and saw mills, the Morningstars had a blacksmith and carpenter shop located on the property.
When the Morningstars first purchased the Mountain Mills, the sawmill building was used as a community hall where local dances were held. After a serious fight had ensued on the property they closed it down and converted it into a sawmill which continued to operate for over 40 years!
After Mr. Wilson Morningstar passed away, the sawmill was not maintained and was eventually dismantled. The current sawmill was built by the Friends of Morningstar Mill in the 1990s.
I love history and especially when it applies to architecture. I want to come back and revisit again to take a walk along the Laura Secord trail and the Bruce trail, which is just located directly behind the Morningstar house.
