Sketch of the former Purdy Milling Company, Castleton

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Saturday Morning Post, Cobourg, November 18, 1989

The Purdy Milling Company
Sketch and text by Barry King

"Standing tall and quiet, the old Purdy Mill casts long thoughtful shadows across the road that finds its way to Castleton [County Road 25 in 2018]. Amid autumn’s misty amber days, the venerable wood-framed building seems to exist in its own time. But no longer do grain-filled wagons, with their teams of heavy draught horses, draw up alongside the mill’s low platform. Once, miller and farmer would have passed there to rest from their labours and talk a spell. Though, even now, in the soft fall light, they would not appear out of place.

Here, where Piper’s Creek flows through Keeler’s Hollow, Joseph Abbott Keeler chose his spot to build a mill about 1806. He was the son of the Joseph Keeler who came up from Vermont to settle in Cramahe Township about 1792.

It has been suggested that the present structure dates from about 1830 and that the earlier date may refer to a sawmill constructed a little to the west. Joseph Sr. was builder of several mills in the Lakeport area whereas Joseph Jr. is best known as the founder of Colborne, though the village of Castleton owes a great deal to his mill and its ability to attract settlers.

A story is told of an encounter between J.A. Keeler and a Mr. Bowen who was cutting trees near the Keeler property. On seeing the mill owner’s approach, Bowen assumed he was trespassing on Keeler land. He was about to flee when Keeler explained his intention to hire Bowen to work at the mill.

In order to create a millpond with a 30-foot fall of water to power the wheel, it was necessary to dam Piper’s Creek.

Originally, millstones of the best quality from a quarry near Paris, France were used. Called French buhr, the rock was valued for its hardness and its ability to maintain a sharp edge for grinding. Composed of about 20 separate pieces, the stones were set in plaster of paris and held together in an iron hoop. The pattern was similar to a wagon wheel’s spokes and rim. Extremely durable, they were used at the mill until 1906 when a metal grinder for making feed replaced them. One of the original stones remains there, still intact.

After Keeler, other owners of what was called the Castleton Mills included the Newcombs, the McLaughlins and, in 1870, S.L. Purdy. That year the Purdys also built their home just south of the mill. The Purdy Mill remained in the same family until 1948 when it was sold to Mr. John Kulaga.

The old water wheel had been replaced by a diesel motor in 1934 — a rare find in itself. The Beatty Company, famed for its washing machines, included the engine in its 1898 catalogue.

During the last years of operation, through to 1968, use of the mill gradually diminished.

It has been said that every house has its own characteristic creak of timber or wind-whistling sash. The Purdy Mill is no exception. One torrent of a night in the 1970s, when the water of Piper’s Creek was running very high, a loud rumbling was heard coming from the rear of the mill. Upon investigation, the new owners found that the water wheel had, of its own accord, begun to operate. The explanation was that the creek, swollen by the heavy rains, had started everything up. Of course, it was only coincidental that the long pole, commonly used to disengage the mechanism, was broken. The owners were subsequently forced to wait until the flood subsided for the wheel to stop turning.

One wonders, if shadowed walls could speak, what they would tell of all the millers and farmers who traded grist and gossip here, or of the generations who passed through English Hollow and crossed the bridge at Piper’s Creek."

Cramahe Archives does not hold the original item in its archives, but has a digital image.

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