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4 Friday, November 24, 2023 brooklintowncrier.com The Way Street Mill By Jennifer Hudgins In 1951, Merrill and Rilda Ross purchased a house which was on a hill overlooking what is now Carnwith Street where it crosses Way Street. It had been abandoned for three years and garbage and litter filled the basement and surrounded the grounds. The saltbox-style plank house was falling apart and the property overgrown. Still, the young couple could see beyond the rundown structure and overgrown property. They had bought a piece of Brooklin's history and had plans to bring it back to life. The property was originally developed by James B. Bickell in the mid 1800s and operated as Way Mill until it burned down in 1881. When the Rosses acquired it, remnants of the once thriving mill were mostly gone, except for a few traces like a weathered raceway behind the main barn and several outbuildings. A discovery Merrill, a Myrtle native and superintendent of the Regional Municipality of Durham Works Department, came upon clues of the mill's history during excavation when he discovered charred wheat. Before they purchased the property, it was owned by farmer Elmer Dehart for over 40 years. It had been willed to him after the death of his father Nicholas Dehart. It is not known if Dehart bought the property from Bickell. James Bickell, who was born in Devonshire, England, arrived in Canada at age 17. After his family settled near Peterborough and later farmed Mariposa Township, he ventured into the milling business in Bowmanville. Around 1861, he acquired 44 acres of land spanning Way Street and continued on page 5