Introducing The Daily Grind a new blog series all about the historic Morningstar Mill at Decew Falls.

Introducing the Morningstars

In 1882, Wilson Morningstar and his wife, Emma, took a horse-drawn buggy ride from Welland along Cataract Road to Decew Falls. They were considering purchasing Mountain Mills, a property that would become their lifelong home. Emma admired the mill and the property but wasn’t impressed with the modest wood frame house which was described at the time as ‘a little weather-boarded cottage’.

On February 7, 1883, their first wedding anniversary, Wilson and Emma purchased Mountain Mills for $3,500, with a promise that the house would eventually be replaced. Twelve years later, Wilson fulfilled that promise. He had a new two-story clapboard house built by skilled carpenters from Thorold using lumber he milled himself.

Wilson and Emma raised two daughters, Nora and Jessie. Their family grew to include five grandchildren: Lorna, Eleanor, Donald, Jessie, and Margaret. Memories of the Morningstar family, along with the sights and sounds of mill life, have been preserved through photographs, letters, and stories shared by their children and grandchildren.

Over the next few months, we’ll get acquainted with the Morningstar family. Stay tuned for more from The Daily Grind!

Carla Mackie is Historical Services Coordinator with the City of St. Catharines. Historical Services includes the Morningstar Mill, the Lakeside Park Carousel, and the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre.