Top 3 Abandoned Places In Lanark County

There are so many abandoned places in Lanark County! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in Lanark County. Browse through all abandoned places in Lanark County

1. Herron Mills Ghost Town

It was 1821 and 10-year-old John Gillies found himself aboard the David of London along with his parents, James and Helen. Their ship was making its way from Greenock, Scotland to Quebec, Canada. Three of the 364 Scottish passengers died during the trip, while another four were born. The passengers had paid their own way to Canada to become part of the Canadian government's immigration plan which offered immigrants 100 acres of land and free transportation to it from Quebec City.

Fourty days later, the Gillies had made it by boat, foot and cart, to New Lanark. There, John Gillies learned how to clear the land and build a home as his family began building their future in Canada.

By 1840, John Gillies had a plan. He obtained his own land plot near the Clyde River and 100 adjoining acres. It was here that he and his wife Mary built a home and sawmill. Some say that he travelled the 55 miles from Brockville to Lanark with the 90-pound saw on his back.

Gillies dammed the water to allow for enough flow to power his saw. He would sell his lumber for anywhere from $6 to $12 per 1000 feet. His site grew to include a grist and oat mills. On the other side of the river he built a carding mill to process sheeps wool.

Gillies bought a large circular saw and took contracts to cut lumber. One such contract was to supply 3" thick wood to be used in the construction of the Plank Road between Perth, Balderson and Lanark. He would later claim that he was not paid for this contract.

In 1861 he built a large home for himself and his family which by now counted nine children.

It was about this time that John Gillies had to deal with an inevitable problem. He had cut most of the pine trees from the area and required a new supply for his mill. He had to bring in lumber from other forests. Gillies decided to buy the Gilmour Mill located in Carleton Place and in 1864, Gillies Mill went up for sale.

Gillies eventually sold the mill in 1871 to brothers James and John Herron who purchased 104 acres of land and the mill. They established a company named the J & J Herron Company and the site soon became known as Herron's Mills. A stone bakehouse was added and used to bake unhulled oats or unshelled peas. From there they were bagged and then ground into grade to be used in oatmeal and pea brose (a Scottish dish).

The mill grew to include barns and stables, homes for the workers and John Munroe's tannery. For the worker's children, a school was constructed. Teachers would be given board with local families as part of their payment.

James Herron opened a post office in 1891 that was located in their home. It continued to operate until 1915.

At its peak, Herron's Mill was producing over 8000 feet of lumber per day. In 1919 the brothers passed ownership of the mill down to James' son, Alexander. When Alexander died in 1946, his sister Mary continued to run the mill for five more years. By 1951 the mill sat in silence.

One small building remains, the mill has lost the roof and one wall but still stands with some of the original machinery inside. A couple of collapsed buildings remain as well. I never did find the old home pictured on the cover of Ghost Towns of Ontario, volume 2. Perhaps the most fascinating part was the stone bridge which was built over the Clyde River. The water still continues to flow underneath it.

[u]Location[/u]: The mill is actually ON road #8. Drive through Lanark on highway 511 and continue through Clydesville. Turn right on the paved road marked #8. You will see a sign announcing Herron's Mills and be able to see the Clyde River bridge on your right hand side. There is also an old abandoned home at the corner of the two highways (511 and 8).

[b]Note: The property owners are requesting that people do not trespass onto their property. Many of the buildings are in dangerous condition.[/b]

2. Clyde Forks Mine

i finally have the way points for this mine N45 07.413' W076 43.584'
you will need a flash lite, have fun and respect!!

3. Folger (ghost town) K and P

This page is dedicated to Tracy Lovejoy who had visited Folger in 2004 and who brought me to this unknown ghost town gem in 2009.

Folger was founded along the Kingston and Pembroke Railway (aka the Kick and Push Railway Trail). This railway was founded by the Kingston and Pembroke Iron Mining Company and came to Folger around the 1880(a)s. Wilbur and Robertsville to the south were founded on iron mining. Folger happened to have some of the best farming soil in the Lanark Highlands with 45 feet deep in clay and iron and so it was a logical place to start a village as well. Folger was named after B. W. Folger who was General Manager of the K and P.

Today, only one elderly couple still live here. I got all the info. about the ghost settlement from them (Norman and Lillian Sweeney). The Sweeney(a)s settled here in 1960, 3 yrs prior to the railway lines being lifted, which forced Folger into ghosttownhood.

The village was founded in the 1880(a)s as a farming community. It grew to include a train station, a store, a sawmill, a post office, a school and homes. The mining company surveyed 70 lots from Lavant Station northward to Folger.

When the Sweeney(a)s moved here in 1960 the town was still in good stead. There were 6 families and the farms were still prospering. Hydro power had come in 1951. However, with the end of the trains running north of Snow Rd. in 1963 and with the lifting of the railway tracks in 1970 the hamlet went bust. It was once bragged that the village grew the highest corn stocks in all of Lanark County. There were also 50 or more head of cattle which grazed the open hilly fields. In 1960 the taxes were incredibly cheap. Would you believe for 200 acres the annual bill was only $9?

The Sweeney(a)s built their present home in 1975, which replaced their previous structure built in 1887. Here they raised their 9 kids. The kids went to school in Calabogie and elsewhere. A school bus did eventually come to Folger to pick up the kids way back in the bush in 1968. This didn(a)t last long, though apparently another bus came to pick up school kids in the 1990(a)s.

You would think playing sports would have been an impossibility considering the distances to larger communities. However, three of the Sweeney boys became pitchers for the Lavant baseball team. The local kids also used to dam up the Clyde River in the winter. It ran right through the village and so it offered the only spot to play hockey.

The road into Folger is amazingly well-plowed in the winter and has been for many years. The only snow issue occured during a huge storm in 1971.

For some extra income Lillian used to send homemade cans of cream to Toronto. Then when Coleman(a)s came to Carleton Place a truck was sent twice a week to pick up her cream cans. Norman worked the farm and also had stints with the army and Ontario Hydro. Norman served in WW2 in the Italian campaign against the Germans.

By the 1980(a)s the village was a full-fledged ghost town. Much of the former open fields had been slowly reclaimed by the forest. Today, in the Sweeney(a)s retirement they have the comfort of satellite tv and a phone line, which they finally got in 2007. Their Hummingbird feeders are often frequented by many of their tiny, feathered friends.

To get to Folger take the Kick and Push Trail northward from Lavant Station. When you see an abandoned brown home on the right (built circa 1930), across the creek, you are in downtown Folger. WooHoo!

To see a topo map dated 1945 that shows Folger and Wilbur(a)s buildings at the time go here: http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/digital/Self/Scan5339.JPG