thumb|Watson's Mill, 2018
Watson's Mill is an historic flour and gristmill in Manotick, Ontario, Canada. It is the only working museum in the Ottawa area and one of the very few operating industrial grist mills in North America. Watson's Mill still sells stone-ground whole wheat flour which is made on site. The mill is also well known for its ghost Ann. The legend is that Ann Currier, wife of Joseph, haunts the mill, following her death in a tragic accident there in 1861. Watson's Mill is Manotick's most recognized landmark. Its image is used as a symbol for the village.
Moss Kent Dickinson and Joseph Merrill Currier founded the mill as the Long Island Milling Enterprise in 1860. It was one of a series of mills constructed in the area using power from the Rideau Canal. It earned its current name when it was purchased by Harry Watson in 1946. Watson was the last owner to operate the mill at an industrial level. When the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority bought the mill in 1972, it was developed into a museum.
The mill is open to the public during the summer months and hosts a variety of events, including milling demonstrations every Sunday.
History
Watson's Mill was originally known as the 'Long Island Milling Enterprise', and was constructed by Thomas Langrell, an Ottawa contractor, for two prominent Ottawa businessmen: Moss Kent Dickinson and Joseph Merrill Currier. Dickinson was a successful forwarder and steamboat owner. He was nicknamed 'King of the Rideau' because of his many freight and passenger steamers that travelled up and down the Canal. Dickinson was also mayor of Ottawa from 1864 to 1866, just prior to Confederation, and lived in what is now the South African Embassy. His partner, Joseph Currier, was a lumber baron, and a partner in the Victoria Foundry located in Ottawa, where all of the Mill machinery was cast. Watson's Mill was originally one of four milling operations built at the same time. A saw mill was completed in 1859, the gristmill in 1860, and a carding mill in 1861. The Canada Bung, Plug and Spile Factory was constructed in 1875, completing the Long Island Milling Enterprise, later to be known as the 'Manotick Mills'.
Dickinson intended to develop a village around the Long Island Mills complex. He bought 30 acres of land and sold it as building plots. The village was named 'Manotick', an Algonquin word meaning island. Dickinson also built a house across from Watson's Mill, which still stands today and has been turned into the 'Dickinson House Museum'.
Watson's Mill remained in the Dickinson family until 1928 when Elizabeth, Moss Kent Dickinson's youngest daughter, sold it to Alexander Spratt. Spratt had six children: Charlie, Billie, Helen, Ken, Dick and Hubert. The whole family lived in the Dickinson House while Alexander was running the mill. Alexander died of brain cancer in 1936. His wife continued with the business until it was sold in 1946 to Harry Watson. Watson, his wife Anna and his six children Ron, Bill, Jack, Jim, Bob and Mary all lived in the Dickinson House as well.
With the introduction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, it became cheaper to import wheat and flour from the West than to grow and mill wheat in Ontario. Spratt and Watson gradually transformed the Mill into a feed and seed operation to keep up with the changing times and to accommodate the local dairy and livestock farmers. Watson also began distributing coal and cement.
Ann Crosby Currier
Watson's Mill is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Ann Crosby Currier, the second wife of Joseph Currier. Born in 1841, Ann was the daughter of a successful hotel owner and grew up along with seven siblings, in the village of Caldwell, New York. In 1861, Ann was married to Joseph Merrill Currier, at that time a co-owner of the Mill.
On Monday, March 11, 1861, 6 weeks into the marriage, coinciding with the return from Joseph and Ann's honeymoon, Currier and Dickinson held a small party to celebrate their first successful year of operation. While making their way through the congestion of moving equipment and machinery, tragedy struck. Ann's crinoline and dress became caught in one of the turbine shafts on the second floor of the Mill and she was flung against a pillar and killed instantly. Following this tragedy, Joseph immediately lost all interest in the Mill and eventually sold his shares to his partner Dickinson.
Since that time, there have been numerous unconfirmed sightings of Ann's ghost in Watson's Mill, causing the site to be often considered among Ottawa's haunted buildings. Watson's Mill currently runs a number of events promoting the haunted nature of the building including the Terrifying Tales at Twilight and visits by the Haunted Ottawa and Paranormal Society.
Ann's grave is now located in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, where it was moved from a cemetery north of the Rideau River, at the request of her husband.
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+
!Head Miller
!Years active
|-
|W. M. Harvey
|1860 – 1864
|-
|Owen O’Conner
|1865 – 1876
|-
|John Scott
|1877 – 1892
|-
|John O’Conner
|1893 – 1900
|-
|
|1901 – 1927
|-
|Alexander Spratt
|1928 – 1936
|-
|
|1937
|-
|Gordon Ferris
|1938 – 1943
|-
|Harry Watson
|1943 – 1963
|-
|Milling Ceases
|1963 – 1974
|-
|Ole Steeridge
|1974 – 1980
|-
|Reg Weedmark
|1981 – 1984
|-
|Frank Deguire
|1984 – 1987
|-
|Mike McGuire
|1988 – 2001
|-
|Bill Schaubs
|2001 – 2013
|-
|Chris Innes
|2013 – Present
|}
The items the Mill has for sale are listed as follows. It is recommended to check the Mill website in advance for any last-minute changes there may be to prices or availability.