Empire Woollen Mill – Workers Homesite Hunt

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Late last fall, I received permission from the landowner to detect this c1840 home site, l detected here on Friday and Sunday last week. This is the site in the green rectangle on the c1870. Originally, there were at least three buildings here that housed the workers who worked at the Empire Woollen Mill just up the road.

Empire Mill History
West of Columbus, Ontario on a branch of the Oshawa Creek at the SE corner of Thornton Rd. and Columbus Rd. existed the largest mill in the entire area. Here, in 1835, the impressive, four-storey woollen mills of Mathewson and Ratcliffe was operated by a crew of 50, which was much larger than the other mills that dotted the landscape. Men were brought in from Northern England to work the mill. They resided in a boarding home and small cottages in the area. (See a pic below that shows how the Empire Woollen Mill looked in 1883.)

In 1850, the company was sold to the Empire Mills Company. The area grew into a village that had a church, a store, a school, wooden sidewalks and by 1883, an electrical lighting system powered by the mill dam. It may have been the first of its kind in the entire area. When a major railway was built well west near Markham, ON the company moved. The old mill struggled under new ownership until 1890 when a flood washed out the dam. It was never rebuilt and the small mill village died. A few old century homes and two cemeteries from the era survive.

St. Paul’s Anglican Church stood next to the Empire Mill along with several houses, the church burned to the ground in the winter of 1922. Another church a half-mile west serviced the village as well, it was the Dryden Baptist Church. This c1840 wooden church was cut into sections and moved in the 1920s, it was pulled by a team of horses to a farm across the road from where the Empire mill was located. (See a pic below of the Dryden Baptist Church where it now resides.)

One of the first finds I made was a WWII button in the homeowner's front yard, when I showed it to the owner he said, "I've got something to show you." He then went into his house and came out with a WWII German-issued mess kit knife with a Swastika stamped on it. He told me, "the guy he bought the house from in the 1970s was a WWII vet and he had left the knife in the basement, so the button I found must've belonged to the former landowner." It's always a gratifying feeling when you make a find on a permission that the landowners can relate to. When I'm finished detecting here later this summer, I'm going to print a copy of the original map and affordably frame it with some of the relics I found here for the landowner. Some of the interesting finds I made here 3 — LC’s, an 1870 US ‘Shield’ Five Cent coin, a brass tag stamped ‘RIKER’, part of a horse rosette, pewter spoon bowl fragments, a c1897 clay pipe fragment celebrating Queen Victoria’s Jubilee and a glass perfume bottle.

Thanks very much for looking,
Dave

 

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[WG2020]

Antiquarian,

Looks like you had an outstanding hunt. The condition of the coins and relics are fantastic - you definitely have some forgiving soil and solid preservation techniques. Thank you for sharing your detailed account of your hunt, I always enjoy reading your posts. Good luck with your hunts. Walt

 

[Steve in PA]

Those Canadian large cents sure come out of the ground looking pretty. Shield nickels not so much. I've never found a nice one.

 

[Elvis]

Beautiful finds!!!! Congratulations

 

[Tony in SC]

Really good stuff! Kinda like the cotton mill villages we have down here.

 

[invent4hir]

Dave, thanks for the history lesson and fruits of your successful outing. The button looks amazing! In the second to last photo is that part of a watch movement? I'm partial to watches as my dad worked for Gruen Watch as a dial fitter before shipping out to WWII.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Great write up, research and hunt! Congrats

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Wow ... what a great bunch of finds - congrats !

 

[Digger RJ]

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Colonial Digger]

What a amazing hunt ,awesome finds.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Antiquarian,

Looks like you had an outstanding hunt. The condition of the coins and relics are fantastic - you definitely have some forgiving soil and solid preservation techniques. Thank you for sharing your detailed account of your hunt, I always enjoy reading your posts. Good luck with your hunts. Walt

Thank you so much for your post and for the compliments WG.
I honestly wasn't sure how coppers would fair here having horses peeing on them for many years, but these were all found on a small hill in the pasture, so maybe that helped.
Best of luck to you sir,
Dave

Those Canadian large cents sure come out of the ground looking pretty. Shield nickels not so much. I've never found a nice one.

Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't Steve, my preservation techniques have definitely improved though.
I usually find 5 - 6 IH's every year and they don't fair much better in the soil here either, but this is the first Shield Nickle I've found, I wish it was better, but it is what it is.
Hope you're having another good year buddy,
Dave

Beautiful finds!!!! Congratulations

Thank you Elvis.

Really good stuff! Kinda like the cotton mill villages we have down here.

Thanks for your post Tony.
If you look at the map, there looks to be another half dozen or so buildings across the road on the east side.
My only concern is that when the road was widened and improved 70 years ago, that all of the finds are now gone.
I'm going to head back again on Friday to investigate these structures.
Dave

Dave, thanks for the history lesson and fruits of your successful outing. The button looks amazing! In the second to last photo is that part of a watch movement? I'm partial to watches as my dad worked for Gruen Watch as a dial fitter before shipping out to WWII.

Morning Al.
Yes, this is most likely the inside of a pocketwatch.
The reason I decided to show this relic is because of the amount of writing on the part, it's almost illegible, but it appears to be very old.
Thanks for sharing the info about your Dad.
Dave

Great write up, research and hunt! Congrats

Thank you so much for your post pa/nc.
Dave

Wow ... what a great bunch of finds - congrats !

Thanks E-Trac, I think I've literally only 'scratched the surface' of this site.
I feel there's much more to come from here yet.
Dave

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

Thanks Randy.

What a amazing hunt ,awesome finds.

Thank you CD, best of luck to you in IL.

 

[xr7ator]

Nice finds and thanks for sharing the story and finds. I found a match to the riker piece a few years ago. It sounded soooooo good.... HH ALL

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice finds and thanks for sharing the story and finds. I found a match to the riker piece a few years ago. It sounded soooooo good.... HH ALL

Thanks for your post xr7ator.
Did you do any research into the 'RIKER' piece you found, if possible, would you be able to post a pic for comparison.
This piece is very interesting and I could find nothing online that related to the name 'RIKER' in the 19thc.
I'm thinking this may simply be a name tag that was riveted to a harness or a saddle.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[thrifty76now]

Nice old Canadian large cents.

 

[ArfieBoy]

Great story and background! Fantastic finds! Congratulations! Thanks so much for all the information. Thanks for sharing with us all.

 

[xr7ator]

I believe I did google Riker and it wasn't helpful. Usually, it is very useful. I found a badge or name plate for an old carraige and google helped me find out that the company was only in biz for a few years in the late 1800's. Kinda cool but I have yet to head on down to The Forney Museum and check out all the carraige's and maybe bring it with and find out exactly where it went. It seems to be half of a badge that goes on a pole, or maybe a handle or??
Anywho.....I don't have a pic but will look for it and take one and post. I need to post my silver spoons on a thread and a cool luggage badge on another...

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice old Canadian large cents.

Thank you Sir.

Great story and background! Fantastic finds! Congratulations! Thanks so much for all the information. Thanks for sharing with us all.

Thanks for your post and support Arfie.
It's a lot of work to put together a decent post, it's nice to know someone appreciates the effort.

I believe I did google Riker and it wasn't helpful. Usually, it is very useful. I found a badge or name plate for an old carraige and google helped me find out that the company was only in biz for a few years in the late 1800's. Kinda cool but I have yet to head on down to The Forney Museum and check out all the carraige's and maybe bring it with and find out exactly where it went. It seems to be half of a badge that goes on a pole, or maybe a handle or??
Anywho.....I don't have a pic but will look for it and take one and post. I need to post my silver spoons on a thread and a cool luggage badge on another...

Thanks very much for the background info, this gives me something to work with.
Do you remember if your tag looked similar to the one I found?
Dave

 

[lenmac65]

Great post and very nice finds! Congrats!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Great post and very nice finds! Congrats!

Thank you so much, but I'd much rather find a change purse full of silver.
Best of luck to you bud,
Dave

 

[WannaDig3687]

Hey AntiQ! Sorry, I missed this post. You know, I will never remember all of the history you give, but I do enjoy reading it. I am sure some of it sticks. LOL. Looks like you had a great hunt and I like how you connected with the land owner. Happy Hunting!

~ WD