Ancaster Mill

Millwright, James Wilson, constructed a wooden gristmill and sawmill near the site in 1791-1792, with the financial support of entrepreneur, Richard Beasley. These were the first mills built at the head of Lake Ontario. In original documents, the gristmill was described as being built at the foot of a rock precipice, over which water poured on the head of an overshot waterwheel beside the road leading to Mohawk Village (Brantford). As a result of this investment, Lieutenant Governor Simcoe established a settlement named Ancaster in 1793.

Businessman Jean Baptiste Rousseaux purchased Wilson's interest in the mills and some adjoining land in 1794 and expanded the commercial activity of the village by building a general store, brewery and hotel. Ca 1809 The Union Mills Company acquired the mills.

At the onset of the war of 1812 the original gristmill was destroyed by fire and a second mill was constructed 300yds downstream from the original mill. This second mill burned down in 1854, leading to the reconstruction of a more substantial stone mill by the Egleston brothers, who built a farm equipment foundry and then the existing mill in 1863.

In 1972 the Ciancone family purchased the Mill property and began the building and restoration process. This culminated in the grand opening of the Ancaster Mill as a restaurant in February 1979, shortly after they began operating as a special events venue.

Several mills and factories were built in this vicinity, including a woollen mill by Job Lodor, a threshing machine factory by Eyre Thuresson (extant, converted use), and a four-storey stone knitting mill (1854-1875) by Jasper Crane on the northeast corner of Wilson and Rousseaux Streets. The ruins of the knitting mill can still be found beside the creek.