Ontario Woollen Mills Traditional Cache
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The first in a series of caches hidden near historical locations. Ontario Woollen Mills was the largest industry in Cobourg for most of the 19th century. It was begun about 1845 by Stuart McKechnie and this two brothers. It was later carried on by Alexander Fraser and William Rosamond. At the turn of the century the factory was bought by the Dick Family from Montreal. At its peak it manufactured over 400,000 yards of cloth a year and was one of the largest industries of its kind in Canada.
The Mill was built on Factory Creek (also called Jones' creek, Cobourg Brook and currently Cobourg Creek) on the south side of King Street West. It used water from the dam which had been built much earlier (~1804) 200 feet north of King street - probably by John Nugen. The water was carried in a five foot wooden enclosed flume that went under King street to the basement of the Mill. The Mill building was mainly brick, 4 and half stories high, 100 feet long and 40 wide. The basement housed the water wheel, the fulling machinery (Fulling is the process of fluffing up an already woven or knitted piece of woolen cloth) , finishing room and dye house. On the second floor was the weaving department with its Power Loom. The third floor housed the Carding room where wool was processed from its raw state so that it was ready for spinning into yarn on the fourth floor. The fifth floor was really an attic and was used for drying the wool after it was washed and dyed. A feature of the Mill was that it was steam heated so that there was less of a fire hazard - always a problem in those days. Employment at the Mill was reported to be 170 people. The Mill location is currently occupied by a building that used to be The Cobourg Daily Star newspaper offices and is now up for sale.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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