Upper Canada Village – The Asseltine Woollen Mill
The Asseltine Woollen Mill was one of the buildings that I visited and photographed extensively during a recent visit to the Upper Canada Village located west of Cornwall, Ontario. The Woollen Mill is one of many 1860’s vintage buildings on this historic site. To see the other buildings and activities visit our website entry: Upper Canada Village.
The Asseltine Woollen Mill was moved to the Upper Canada Village location in 1957. Prior to that, it had operated from 1828 until the 1930’s on the banks of Mill Creek in Ernesttown Township near Kingston,Ontario. At the Village, it now continues as a functional water-powered woollen mill providing a look at mill activities as they might have appeared in the 1860’s.
As visitors enter the mill on the main floor, they are greeted with the smells of the raw wool process and can examine both the bins of uncleaned wool as well as the washing vats where the wool would have been cleaned before being set out to dry.
As I wander around places like this, I am always intrigued by the signs and the rules that were in place in that time and place.
Due to the number of images which I took while in the Asseltine Woolen Mill, I have uploaded the images to this separate entry.
(Back to the main Upper Canada Village thread.)
Visitors enter the building on the main floor, ascend a staircase to the second floor and then return to the main floor and an exit via another staircase. At various times, the equipment in the building is operational so safety is an issue and children and adults are encouraged to keep hands and loose clothing away from the operational equipment. As noted in the signs above Hoops and Crinolines are definitely not appropriate for wear in this factory!
The images presented here are more or less in the same order as they would be seen when following the visitor routing through the mill.
The following shots are taken on the main floor of the Woolen Mill and with wheels a spinning and belts moving pretty rapidly it is wise to stay on the path!
Back to the main Upper Canada Village thread.
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