Todmorden Mills
Encyclopedia
Todmorden Mills was a small settlement located in the Don River
Don River (Toronto)
The Don River is one of two rivers bounding the original settled area of Toronto, Ontario along the shore of Lake Ontario, the other being the Humber River to the west. The Don is formed from two rivers, the East and West Branches, that meet about north of Lake Ontario while flowing southward into...
valley in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. It started out as a lumber mill in the 1790s. Originally known as "Don Mills", it grew into a small industrial complex and village before becoming part of East York
East York
East York can refer to:*East York, Pennsylvania, United States*East York, Ontario, Canada...
in the 20th century. Currently the valley site is occupied by the Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum and Arts Centre, which includes the museum, art gallery, a theatre and a forest preserve.
History
In 1795, the settlement of YorkYork, Upper Canada
York was the name of Old Toronto between 1793 and 1834. It was the second capital of Upper Canada.- History :The town was established in 1793 by Governor John Graves Simcoe, with a new 'Fort York' on the site of the last French 'Fort Toronto'...
in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
was a small but growing community on the shores of Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
. In order to supply construction material, Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...
granted land on the Don River to Aaron and Isaiah Skinner for the purpose of building a mill to supply lumber. Simcoe wrote to a friend "A mill should be build (sic) 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
Todmorden
Todmorden is a market town and civil parish, located 17 miles from Manchester, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Upper Calder Valley and has a total population of 14,941....
, a town then straddling the two counties of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The Taylors owned a number of industrial mills in the neighbourhood including the Don Valley Brick Works
Don Valley Brick Works
The Don Valley Brick Works also known as Evergreen Brickworks is a former quarry and industrial site located in the Don River valley in Toronto, Ontario. Currently the buildings sit mostly unused while the quarry has been converted into a city park which includes a series of naturalized ponds...
. 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
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp. The camp housed men from the German merchant marine who were interned in Allied ports at the start of the war. The prisoners often worked as labourers at the nearby Don Valley Brick Works. In 1945, the prisoners were repatriated and the camp was shut down. Soon afterwards, the camp buildings were destroyed by fire, likely set by vandals.
Between 1930 and 1967, the property housed a collection of horse riding schools and light industry. In the 1930s, the Windermere Riding Academy used the property. Don Vale Textiles occupied the property in the late 1940s. From 1950 and 1963, the Whitewood Riding School was housed at the stables.
During the building of the Don Valley Parkway
Don Valley Parkway
The Don Valley Parkway is a controlled-access six-lane municipal expressway in Toronto connecting the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Ontario Highway 401, the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway. North of Highway 401, it continues as Ontario Highway 404. The parkway runs through...
, the site was extensively modified. The river which used to pass through the site in a wide meander was straightened so that it was entirely cut off from the site. The former riverbed was turned into a pond and the bridge that used to cross the river is now only used to reach a parking lot.
In 1965, the mill site was proposed as a centennial
Canadian Centennial
The Canadian Centennial was a year long celebration held in 1967 when Canada celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. Celebrations occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1. 1967 coins were different from previous years' issues, with animals on each...
project by East York's mayor, True Davidson
True Davidson
Jean Gertrude Davidson, CM , the first mayor of the Borough of East York, Ontario, was one of Toronto’s most colourful politicians in a career spanning nearly 25 years...
. On May 22, 1967 it was opened as the Todmorden Mills Historic Site and started to function as a community museum. Davidson remained as an honorary curator until her death in 1978. Currently the museum maintains four buildings from the original settlement including the old paper mill which dates from 1825, a brewery and two homes. The Don railway station was moved to Todmorden in 1969, and remained at Todmorden until 2009 when it was moved to another site downtown.
In 1991, two local naturalists, Charles Sauriol
Charles Sauriol
Charles Joseph Sauriol, CM was a Canadian naturalist who was responsible for the preservation of many natural areas in Ontario and across Canada.-Early life:...
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
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
and restore flowers and trees native to the Toronto area.