History
This property was once the site of a Carding Mill used for the processing of sheep’s wool. Before wool can be spun into thread or yarn, it must be combed, also referred to as carded, to straighten the wool fiber and remove impurities. Water powered carding machines like the one that was at this site made it much easier and faster to prepare the wool for spinning. It was said that it would take a family months to prepare as much wool by hand as a carding machine could card in a day.
Mechanical carding machines used a series of rollers covered with metal brushes to comb, straighten and roll the wool into “rovings”.
The carding mill on this site would have stood along the creek which is leading from the pond to the Grants Settlement road. Earth berms which you can still see today near the opening of the creek, held back water to power the mill. The pond would have been about 10ft deeper than it currently is now. Over the years the beavers have taken up the charge of damming the creek and making a natural aquatic habitat.
The Ross Museum in Foresters Falls has a write up on the history of Carding Mill that once stood on this property. (Ross Museum, Whitewater Region, Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada).