Hawthorne Mill–The Early Years– 1874 -1927

Church Choir Picnic – 1885 just in front of the Hawthorne Mill Emily Street-Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

 

I realized I had the early history of the Hawthorne Mill all over the place in my files– so decided to document it here for once and for all.

The larger industrial plants opened in Carleton Place in the 1870s were the McArthur and Hawthorne Woollen Mills and the Gillies Machine Works.

 

1874--In the first stages of a five year business depression two new industries were started here.  They came with the building of the three storey stone structure of the Gillies Machine Works on the north side of the river at the lower falls, and the opening of the four storey stone woollen factory of Abraham Code, M.P.P., later known as the Hawthorne Woollen Mill.

1879-With two local woollen mills remaining in operation, the closed Hawthorne Woollen Mill was offered for sale by Abraham Code.

 

1881- W. H. Wylie, lessee of the McArthur mill, bought the Hawthorne woollen mill from its new owner James Gillies at a price reported as $19,000.

1907 – A Quebec company, the Waterloo Knitting Co. Ltd., similarly re-opened the Hawthorne Woollen Mill.

1910- The Hawthorne woollen mill was reopened by its new owner, the Carleton Knitting Co., Ltd.

 

1917–The Hawthorne Mills Limited was incorporated with a capital stock authorization of $200,000. In the first world war they supplied serge for British army uniforms and the Canada Woollen Mills expanded its operations here at the Gillies and Hawthorne mills.

1918- The Hawthorne woollen mill, with two hundred employees, was enlarged.

 

1927- According to this list the Hawthorne Mill was closed down again with a lot of other woolen mills

 

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  10 Mar 1928, Sat,  Page 21

 

Llew Lloyd– In the summer of 1960 or 61 I worked for my father cleaning and painting the original stone structure to get it ready for Leigh instruments to move in . Amazing that the building was abandoned all that time and managed to be put back into service .

 

Photo- Linda Seccaspina

 

 

 

 

 

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  17 Jul 1937, Sat,  Page 1

We love comments, we love stories and we love photos.. Thanks goes to Joyce MacKenȝie for this sheet of writing paper from the Hawthorne Mill in Carleton Place-

 

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  16 Jan 1915, Sat,  Page 19

 

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal, 21 Feb 1948, Sat, Page 17 Louella Shail at the Renfrew Knitting Mills.. (Hawthorne)–

 

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal, 21 Feb 1948, Sat, –Colourful Spring plaids from the Renfrew Woolen Mill (Hawthorne) being displayed by Mrs Zephyr Bennett

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  16 Sep 1904, Fri,  Page 1

 

Wanda Tysich of Carleton Place at the Renfrew/ Hawthorne Mill

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  21 Feb 1948, Sat,  Page 17

 

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  11 Apr 1924, Fri,  Page 16

 

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  04 Sep 1907, Wed,  Page 6

 

B.J. Ritza assistant designer for the Renfrew Woolen Mill/Hawthorne

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  21 Feb 1948, Sat,  Page 17

 

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  17 Jul 1959, Fri,  Page 5

 

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun and Screamin’ Mamas (USA)

Related reading–later years of the mill

The Revolutions of the Hawthorne Mill

The Rencraft Fire Dept Photo Brings Back a Familiar Name

The Case of the Bell that Disappeared

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