STOREHOUSE
Albion Mills once had a well constructed building in the distant past which had many uses and was called a storehouse.
The storehouse at Mount Albion was built in 1796, and was therefore, one of the first buildings ever erected in the Hamilton area. It was originally built and used for a hop kiln. The hops were dried over wood fires in a big iron stove on the second storey of the storehouse. Then they were pressed into bales and sold to brewers for the making of beer.
The old storehouse was later used to store grain, and sometimes blocks of ice cut in mid-winter from the frozen water of the mill dam. In 1946, it was then turned into a dwelling-house and restaurant, owned and operated by Oliver Carpenter, his wife, and daughter. The property included the house, the mill-dam, the creek, and the hill fields beyond, in all 13 acres.
Unfortunately, the old storehouse was totally destroyed in a fire on October 7, 1947.
References:
1. Burkholder, Mabel. Out of the Storied Past. vol. 1. pp. 19, 20. Special Collections, HPL.
2. Saltfleet, then and now: 1792 - 1973. p. 109. Special Collections, HPL.
