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  History of Rockwood

Boating in the Victoria near Pinnacle Rock, Eramosa River,
circa 1890 (now part of the Rockwood Conservation Area)

Rockwood was a lively, self-supporting spot that had farms butting right up to the centre of town. It was known for its excellent limestone quarries by the Eramosa River and north of the railway tracks. The kilns were built of stone and brick, in which rock was dumped into the opening, burned, and eventually raked out at the bottom. The sites are only known by the presence of gravel and white lime around the collapsing brick kilns.

Rockwood also had a bustling turnip business. Many barns had special “turnip holes” where the crop was dumped down in the basement for winter storage or until it was taken to market. By the 1950s the industry moved west into Huron County.

The Rockwood Grist Mill was constructed in 1843 by Henry Strange, and later purchased by the Hortop family. The mill is still located on Main Street South beside the Presbyterian Church, although it was converted to a residence. Constructed circa 1868 by William Farrish, Gray’s Flour & Grist Mill, also known as Henderson’s Mill on Guelph Line (County Road 44), was partly destroyed in two fires, in 1900 and 1917. The Grand River Conservation Authority purchased the mill’s remains from Edgar Harris, but decided to remove the old mill instead of conserving it about 1961.

Written and compiled by Deb Quaile of Wordbird Press.
Reproduced with permission of the author.

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