About Williams Mill

The Williams Mill History

The Williams Mill property consists of the Williams Mill, a three-storey timber and clapboard Mill building that was constructed circa 1825, and the Georgetown Electric Light Company Power Plant, a two-and-a-half storey stone structure constructed circa 1898. The property was designated by the Town of Halton Hills In 1988 for its heritage value under the Ontario Heritage Act.
The Williams Mill and the Georgetown Electric Light Company Power Plant, located east of the Credit River, reflect the early development of the hamlet of Glen Williams as the site of milling operations that were powered by the nearby river.

The Williams Mill is associated with Benajah Williams who bought the land in 1825 and opened a saw mill. The economic life of nineteenth century Glen Williams revolved around the milling enterprises of the Williams family, after whom the hamlet is named. One of the oldest remaining mills constructed in Glen Williams, the Williams Mill has been in continuous industrial use until more recent history.

As flour was necessary in the community, Charles Williams built a flourmill in 1871 at the spot where the stone building now stands. Operating day and night, the flourmill was a busy place, even producing flour for export to foreign markets.

The Georgetown Electric Light Company Power Plant was subsequently constructed on the site of the Williams' family flour mill that had been destroyed by fire in 1890. Circa 1898, the two-and-a-half-storey stone structure was erected and housed a power plant which Joseph Williams started in the basement of the saw mill circa 1893. The power plant was the first structure in the area built specifically for the purpose of generating electric power for sale to outside customers. By 1911, the Hydro Electric Power Commission had been created and Glen Williams voted to join the Niagara power grid, ending the need for a local power plant. In 1935, the Mill property was purchased by the Apple Products Company, which operated an apple-processing factory here until as recently as the 1980s.

Purchased by local entrepreneurs Doug and Mary Lou Brock in 1985, the buildings underwent restoration. Between 1989 and 1994, parts of the building were usable and subsequently rented to a technology company. It was an original Mill artist, Carol-Ann Michaelson, that encouraged the Brocks to convert the space into artist studios and since then the Mill has grown into a collection of renowned professional artists that have built a unique and creative atmosphere for arts and culture.

The Yellow Mill, dated 1985
The Yellow Mill, dated 2005
The Stone Building
The Courtyard