THE MILL
The first grist mill built at the falls appeared about 1800. For many years after its construction, the ravine was a hive of activity as farmers came from miles around to have their grains ground into flour at the mill. A thriving village containing three hotels, two blacksmith shops and a general store was established near the mill site.
In 1814, the mill was purchased by John Secord, a local resident. His daughter, Miss Laura Secord, was famous for her dash through the woods to warn the British troops of the Americans' movements during the war of 1812.
By 1840, the flouring mill at the head of the ravine was known as "Cook's Mill", for the owner, Mr. William Cook, a Scotsman and a Welland Canal contractor. On the hill above and south of the falls, Mr. Cook built a five-storey stone "castle", known as "Cook's Folly", with fourteen fire-places. Ten acres of park lands surrounded the house, ornamented with walks, arbours, pergolas, shrubs, and fruit trees. Two small lakes for boating, about an acre in extent, were connected by a channel and fringed by willow trees.
The old Albion Mill was still in operation in 1907, when its owner, Robert Grassie, fell to his death in its wheel-pit. The history of the old mill was effectively ended at that point, and it was demolished in the spring of 1915.
Early in 1967, the East Mountain Home Owners Association's Centennial Committee requested that the Parks Board give consideration to the raising and placement of the old mill stone located at Albion Falls. The stone had been partially buried for many years on the site of the old Davis Mill. The Board agreed to remove the stone and relocated it adjacent to the Mill site. It was suitably mounted on a concrete base (on the property now called Upper King's Forest Park), and a dedication ceremony was held on June 24, 1967. The plaque is inscribed as follows:
Albion Mills
This milling stone is all that remains of Albion Mills. The first mill, built about 1795 by Wm. Davis, contributed to the area's economic development. Settlers came and the land was cleared. Many of their early homes are within a short walking distance of this stone, and still occupied by their descendants.
The mill, three floors high, was situated on a flat rock shelf half way down the gorge beside the falls. One can still discern the foundations of the mill, the wheel pit, and across the road the mill pond.
This stone is dedicated in grateful recognition of the part played by these early settlers in building of our nation.
Erected by the Board of Park Management in
Co-operation with the Albion Falls Centennial
Committee.
June 24th, 1967
References:
1. Annual Report of the Board of Park Management for the City of Hamilton, 1960. pp. 39, 40.
2. Burkholder, Mabel. Out of the Storied Past. vol. 1. pp. 19, 20. Special Collections, HPL.
3. Burkholder, Mabel. Out of the Storied Past. vol. 7. pp. 135, 136. Special Collections, HPL.
4. Clipping File. Hamilton - Parks - King's Forest Park. Special Collections, HPL.
5. Corporation of the City of Hamilton, Department of Public Works and Traffic, Parks Division, Park Development Section. Parks Master Plan database, 1996.
6. Hamilton Mountain News. November 27, 1991. p. 13.
7. Our Heritage Scrapbook. vol. 1. p. 155. Special Collections, HPL.
8. Our Heritage Scrapbook. vol. 6. p. 27. Special Collections, HPL.
9. Saltfleet, then and now: 1792 - 1973. p. 107. Special Collections, HPL.
10. The Head - of - the - Lake Historical Society, Hamilton, Ontario. Wentworth Bygones. no. 3. p. 11. Special Collections, HPL.
11. The Head - of - the - Lake Historical Society, Hamilton, Ontario. Wentworth Bygones. no. 9. Special Collections, HPL.
