Location: Ancaster

Status: Converted into Old Mill restaurant

Waypoint: Google Map

Summary: Ancaster was one of the three original potential capitals of Upper Canada with a strong defensible position and close to water but ended up being too close to the American border.

Its pioneer settlers deforested the land and planted crops for subsistence agriculture. For a century it was an unimposing gristmill hamlet and police village. The mill was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. The first three mills were destroyed by fire and the present stone flour mill was built in 1863. The building was constructed with limestone blocks taken from the actual site. Its walls are four feet thick at the base. The flour mill is one of the most substantial stone structures in the province. The Ciancone family bought this site in 1972 and built the “Old Mill Restaurant?in 1979.