The researcher who completed the background report on the history of the
Welland Mills stated that this was the only heritage building researched in the
region with such a large number of people of major significance to the history
of the province and the nation. The building was plaqued by the Ontario Heritage
Foundation in 1986 when it was recognized as one of Upper Canada's largest flour
mills, solidly built and functional in design...an excellent example of the
province's early milling technology.
The Welland Mills with its symmetrical facade is an exceptional example of an
early industrial building in the neo-classical vernacular, of considerable
intrinsic architectural merit and of historical significance for both local
connections and the development of the provincial merchant milling industry. In
form, proportion, material and design, it is an outstanding representative
of the functional tradition.
The exterior is of bold coursed stonework, emphasized by tooled quoins, with
stone sills and lintels to openings, and is surmounted by gable roofs of low
pitch with simple cornices and sloped eaves. With three full floors, a basement
and capacious roof space, the U-shaped complex still forms a dominant anchor to
downtown Thorold.
The Welland Mills is a landmark; it contributes greatly to the City scene, and
expresses, in its statuesque dignity, an industrial heritage tending to be
forgotten, yet upon which the success of Canada so much depended. The Welland
Mills is the most architectonic of industrial buildings in the Niagara Region
from the first half of the 19th century, one of the most notable in Ontario and
possibly of national significance. Its handsome proportions, simple bold detail,
regularity and well-executed masonry represent the best of its period. The
building is notable for its neo-classic design and massive functional structure;
it is a dominant anchor to the downtown.
The Welland Mills was built in 1846-47 by Jacob Keefer on the second Welland
Canal. The Keefer name is well known in Thorold; the Keefers were entrepreneurs
and considered Thorold's founding family. Maplehurst, one of our outstanding
buildings in Thorold was built by Hugh Keefer and was the family home.
The Welland Mills was capable of manufacturing 300 barrels of flour per day and
the store house was capable of containing 70,000 bushels of wheat and 5,000
barrels of flour. The cooper shop, when in full operation, employed 12 hands.
Thomas Rodman Merritt (son of Wm. Hamilton Merritt) owned a one-third interest
in the Welland Mills in 1858. Names of note connected to the mill were Thomas
C.Street, Oswald & Zimmerman, Richard Miller, Wm. Eccles, Hon. Sir Thomas GaIt,
Hon. Wm. Cayley, Sylvester Neelon, Wm. and John L.Spink. Throughout its history
the mill has had a series of prominent owners including the well-known Howland
family, the Hedley Shaw Milling Co., and later the Maple Leaf Milling Company.