The Middle Mill Commemorative Plaque, 2016
File information | File dimensions | File size | Options |
Original JPG File | 8400 × 6000 pixels (50.4 MP) 71.1 cm × 50.8 cm @ 300 PPI |
7.1 MB | Restricted |
Low resolution print | 2000 × 1429 pixels (2.86 MP) 16.9 cm × 12.1 cm @ 300 PPI |
713 KB | Restricted |
Screen | 1120 × 800 pixels (0.9 MP) 9.5 cm × 6.8 cm @ 300 PPI |
291 KB | Restricted |
Resource ID
5219
Access
Open
Address
Lower Don Parklands, 44 Beechwood Dr, Toronto, ON M4K 3H8
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2016
Historical Themes
Industrial Heritage, Innovation and Technology, Performing Arts
Program Category
Historical Plaques
Rights
Heritage Toronto
Time Period
1835-1899, 1900-1953
Caption
The Middle Mill Commemorative Plaque, 2016
Description
For more than 130 years, this section of the Don Valley was home to a succession of important paper-making facilities. The first mill to operate here was built in 1858 by John Taylor & Brothers and known as the Middle Mill. It was powered by water from the Don River that was fed into a fast-flowing, man-made channel called a millrace.
Operating night and day except on Sundays, the Middle Mill and two other mills nearby, also owned by the Taylors, produced a substantial amount of printing paper. Prominent newspapers, such as The Globe, were printed on paper made from rags and straw at the Taylor mills. The mills also manufactured paper stock for products such as posters, books, and tea filters.
In 1907, Robert Davies purchased the Middle Mill and founded the Don Valley Paper Company. Howard Smith Paper Mills took over in 1939, becoming a subsidiary of the Dominion Tar and Chemical Company (later Domtar) in 1961. Due to falling demand, the paper plant closed in 1989.
The City of Toronto and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority demolished most of Domtar's factory in 1992, and carried out an extensive clean-up of the land, returning it to its natural state by planting native trees and shrubs. Parts of the Taylors' millrace are still visible west and southwest of here.
Marker lat / long: 43.694833, -79.356959 (WGS84)