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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-08-29, Page 15Cr roa Olto weekly boostsla goer 1,41 � Wel Ulmer. Wisgham Advance limos a 'Moo* Forest Coate- ate is read bi' 2$,0101► pile in the "heartls 1 of Midwestern star l►. `. (Wised pa 3.5 readers in each of Mee ,koMes,l R Published vary week in The Lis owel Bailier, The Wingbarn oncet,Tion and The W4 oredt Confederate by Weir firctkt 4- THE ORIGINAL OWNER — William Vanatone, born in England in 1833, is described in' the 1879 edition of the Atlas of Huron County as, "one of the most conspicuous gentle- men in commercial and social circles to be met with." At ,the age of 26 hemoved to Brussels and built the mill that • was later d estroyed by fire in 1911. It was primarily Water -power , With,steaM to be ;us0. ip emergencies;. for f . � sf l e cte h. 40�. t�n oar'�ri�'�I�+�����N,�ii�-�:��.��+BS ie d.aq►.. Vliiage: Counit tiu! refurnedto running his mill operation - -after one term. Referring to the mill, the Atlas said, "The most complete and extensive wirhin long.distanceion either side, and the water -power by which they are run is second to none on the Maitland." Waiting down the block and into another century used to be easy for Brussels residents., The Logan Mill of Brussels, which was shut down seven years ago, was one of three eperathlg water* we r left the e millsin ,� ed.. area ` (two others are in Tees - water). In 1972, the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority purchased the Mill and surround- ing land... Attention Was recently focused on. the Logan Mill as spring floods swept away much of the wheels' support apparatus, In response the Authority decided to take the two turbines out and give one to the Huron County Pioneer Muse- um in Goderich and; keep the other for display. In 1967, the gristmill, located on the banks of the Maitland River. lin Brussels closed for the last time. It had closed once before as fire destroyed the former flour mill in 1911. Three years liter, in 1914, it was rebuilt by John Logan of Brussels. The original three-storey .struc- ture was built and owned by William Vanstone about 1$60. The house next to the mill served as the home for the mill owners through the years. The house, 114 -years -old, is owned by Bruce McCall of Brussels. He and his family did not .however,, live irk -01,1uMseand? it , ah*S. cupied. , A wooden dam was built around '1860 to funnel the water into the flume to power the original water wheel.' Turbine* ,replaced the wheel in the rebuff t structure of 1414, along with. the steam engine which was used to supplement the power . souree. when the water level dropped, The water wasfunneled into .a 12 foot wide flume pr opprlling. the turbines .which were made at Barber's, a little shop in the Georgian Bay area., still in _operation today. (The turbines were never replaced.) The . turf.' bines, placed 11 feet in water; would turn a shaft that propelled another set of wheels on the main floor. They in turn would activate . the wheels inside the mill which would grind the grain. , The rebuilt mill was construe-, ted mainly of cement with the steel smoke stack being replacedt. by a cement one which is ,stili standing today. Wood and see shingle siding was used on -thy original mill in 1860. Cement was poured over the wooden dam 1910. The new operatiqn prospered and in 1930 a . diesel engine was bought to replace the old steam engine, It was not until later that the mill became an unprofitable ven- ture. en-to re. The machinery was beconim ing obsolete and the small,=mill couldn't compete with' modern day enterprise: rb Dior . 1rr ar�i !w l Me,- partnerhis father John and later sole ownr, said, "Things were getting bad. The dam was in bad repair and it was getting too expensive to . keep up. "My father did better. There were no big operations to compete with then." He said he and another man would operate the mill by themselves, occasionally hiring an extra worker to help during the busy season., - "There was no heat in the place except in the office. We had an old barrel stove there (over 100 -years -old). And I'll tell you, when it got to be 50 below zero — it was cold." THE ORIGINAL BUILDINGS — The original mill (on left) and the house were built by William Vanstone. They were and still are adjacent to each other along the banks of the Maitland River. It was said that within the first few years the mill had 60 wagons lined up, waiting their turn on certain days. An overhang was added to the mill later and a smoke stack made of cement replaced the steel one. The veranda on the house was redone, eliminating the arch at the entrance. Most everything else is substantially the same, • After about two year* of ownership, the Maitland Authori- ty began upkeep operations on the mill. in a report, prepared for the Authority, lick ,Moorhouse, an architecture student at the University. of Waterloo, . sag• gestbd three courses of action. The'first was to restore the mill to its original working order. This, however, was regarded as impractical due to ,the cost and time that would be required. Obsolete parts would have to be found or at least, specially made. The whole turbine apparatus in the water would have ' to .be rebuilt, The °second 's ggestion was , to recreate the rill . tolook as though it was in working order. Certain parts would function but mist would only appear so. It :rad req r.Mouireorbminorsaidrepairs,would, Milch Mouse be;quite feasible. The third alternative would include the second plus re- building some parts to allow for storage and office space for the Authority, This would require some modernization however. The report said the village of Brussels should be urged to stop dutnping snow on the property during the winter since it tends to ye its scars 'when spring. eras r en � Glean -up tptnj were also August 1967, was the last month of operation for the 114 -year-old mill. Mr. Logan now works at the Canadian Legion Home. suggested. Mr. Moorhouse said. that all the repairs could be done by SWEEP through the course of a summer. He stressed the need for action as soon as possible since failure to do so would allow the mill to fall into an ern worse state of repair. In conclusion he said the overall plan should be to- make the mill and its surrounding property an educational as well as a recreational area. He said. "The Logan Mill in Brussels is a unique example of a way of life which existed in a century , which is quickly coming to a close. Consequently, I ,again recommend the mill be saved and presented as an example of that pest." Marlene Shiell, secretary - treasurer of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, said, "eLogan .Mill as being restored 'Oa :point that it could be tised for Storage andibly for tours for i� groups, We Will else restore some of the machinery to show how it - worked« , -non isn't god to be done over ayear thoughr And we won't rebuild the dam since the province has' strict rules regard - ing construction of anything but ai floodeontrol dam. Nye wilt do remedial repairs --- to see that it doesn't go out completely," She Said Ott. r when house next door.. was put tip for auctid .the Autho. city to maake a bid due to lack of notice. The present owners,the 1402alis said theywere runc t° "the 'fes of the 11 Mrs. it is pesible they wilt tear , e rather than nc' by the 00-ye'-o1 which symbolized cleterMination of ;the' way of life oanie. to.* same. Canada its Or*, tur. IT'S A BIT MUSTY — Much of the inside of the old Brussels Mill remains as-it:was years ago, except for a few extra spider webs and other signs of age. Most of the apparatus seen - above would have to be removed in any restoration project attempted by the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. THE WHEELS OF PROGRESS STOP - These particular wheels of the Logan Mill in Brussels stopped just a' few years ago. When first bought and installed in the mill, they were considered to be some ra►f.the finest and most advanced machinery parts in the area. Just beyond the line of sight., at top of photo, sits the reservoir that was created by the construction of the original wooden dam when the mill was first built. JUST A ROCK P1 LE -- That'S what the outer shed has become of the Logan Mill in Brussels. Here, Maitland Valley Conservation Authority worker takes a swing at part of the wall that remains. The shed along with other parts of the, mill were damaged in last .spring's floods. A big traCtor•shovel ,came along a little rater to finish the lob. a c 5w'J'a n CAREFUL, IT'S COLD DOWN THERE — Workmen were authorized to take out the turbine -wheels of the Brussels Mill recently. Spring floods had washed away much of the support of the wheels leaving the workmen in a somewhat precarious balance. No mishaps resulted however. One of the wheels was donated to the Huron County Pioneer Museum, the other remaining at the mill sine for possible display if any decision Is made to convert the mill into a recreational museum area.