Allan’s
Mill - The History
After the
departure of John Galt and the adoption of an austerity program by Canada Company
directors in England, the burgeoning economy of Guelph collapsed in 1829 and the
area was emptying of settlers. The
Company concluded that a grist and flourmill was necessary to revive the flagging community and save substantial
investments.
Completed
during the winter of 1830, the Canada Company Mill, as it was first known,
was situated on the west bank of the once powerful Speed River.
Guelph’s first mill was an impressive wooden structure,
containing four run of stone, one for oatmeal, one for country flour, and
two for merchant flour.
The
Canada Company sold the mill to William Allan in 1832.
Allan, a Scot from Killochan, Ayrshire, had spent several years
supervising the construction of saw and flourmills in Sweden.
He quickly took advantage of his regional monopoly, and reinvested
his capital in the development of the premises. He replaced the original mill
with a five story stone structure, which included seven run of stone. Not
only did Allan diversify his business by adding a distillery and producing
fruit syrups, he attempted to make his business self-sufficient by adding
a cooper shop, a blacksmith and a metal working-shop, a planing mill and
wood working shop, a stone quarry, lime kiln, and two farms on York
Road.
Allan’s
Mill remained in the family until 1876, when operations were wound up and
the mill sold to David Spence. Spence
operated the mill until successive fires ended the buildings use as a
milling facility.
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