German Woolen Mill Ruins

The crumbling stone remains of the German Woolen Mill, with only a few lengths of wood and segments of plaster adorning the walls. It is around 60x40 feet.

The mill was built in 1867 by Alva and Sydney German. After several years of operation, Sydney left the mill and sold his portion to his brother in law, James McCrea, though Alva stayed and continued to operate the mill. The mill ended up closing seemingly many years later at an unspecified date, due to larger and newer mills being built in the area. After years of inopration, Alva turned the whole mill over to James McCrea and his wife. His wife, Nettie, had the idea of repairing the mill and turning it into a lodge. A supposed considerable amount of money was spent attempting to materialise this idea, with the second floor having 13 bedrooms, though it eventually turned out that it was not viable due to not being profitable. In the time that the mill was a lodge, a guest named Dan Hoover was shot and killed by an unknown murderer in 1941. This was not the only death though, as a little girl had fallen into the raceway under the mill and drowned sometime in 1886, when it was still in operation. After some time, the McCrea's sold the lodge to T.E. Robson of Brantford for $500, who then revitalized the lodge with antiques to use as a summer residence. He used the mill as a residence until 1944, until the Canadian Pacific Railway Company told him that a railway track was to be built across the sole road that lead to his retreat. He attempted to combat the case with many expensive lawyers, but eventually lost his bid in court. The township then offered to buy it from him for $688, which he accepted. The mill was supposed to be torn down by the township in September of 1945, though for whatever reason the demolition did not happen. Since then it has sat without intervention to face an inevitable demise. This history is essentially a condensation of information from this website, on which additional history and images are available.

The risks of this place are avoidable and mostly minimal. It is a crumbling ruin, so certain parts may be unstable and pieces can fall (especially from the higher points on each end, as looking through past albums the deterioration is clear). The plant cover is very heavy, but there are paths worn around that are easy enough to follow. There are many no trespassing signs, and many people walking on the trail, which are not a really good combination. There are no houses and therefore no owners in immediate proximity though.