In 1883, the City of St. Catharines sold Mountain Mills to Wilson and Emma Morningstar. Wilson operated the flour and feed mill for the next 50 years. When the mill was first purchased it had two pairs of millstones and some basic sifting equipment. One pair of stones was used for making stone ground whole-wheat flour and the other was used for grinding oats, corn, rye and barley into animal feed.

Local farmers brought their grain to the mill by horse and wagon. It was off-loaded onto the entrance landing, weighed on a moveable floor scale, and then either poured into the raw grain bin for flour production or dropped through a floor hatch for animal feed processing. From there, a system of chutes, belt-driven bucket elevators, and augers moved the grain and flour between floors and through various pieces of equipment.

To start the machinery, Wilson would ‘turn on’ the mill by cranking a mechanism in the southwest corner, which lifted the sluice gate in the millpond and allowed water to flow into the turbine. The force of the water powered the turbine and set all the mill’s equipment in motion. The turbine produced enough power to spin the 1,500 lb (680 kg) millstone at nearly 100 revolutions per minute!To start the machinery, Wilson would ‘turn on’ the mill by cranking a mechanism in the southwest corner, which lifted the sluice gate in the millpond and allowed water to flow into the turbine. The force of the water powered the turbine and set all the mill’s equipment in motion. The turbine produced enough power to spin the 1,500 lb (680 kg) millstone at nearly 100 revolutions per minute!

The best millstones for flour-making are made from French buhrstone, a very hard and porous freshwater quartz quarried near Paris at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, France. Originally, millstones were cut from a single block of stone, but by 1825, the larger deposits had been depleted. In the 19th century, buhrstone was imported to America in one-foot blocks. These smaller pieces were cemented together with plaster and bound with an iron hoop. Wilson Morningstar’s millstones were made from ten such segments.

A pair of millstones is needed to grind grain into flour: the lower stone is called the bedstone, and the upper, the runner-stone. The surface of each stone is carved with grooves called furrows and flat areas called lands. The furrows act as cutters and ventilators, helping to keep the flour cool and flowing, while the lands serve as the grinding surface.

To set up for grinding, a device known as the ‘wooden crane and irons’ was used to position the runner-stone above the stationary bedstone. The runner-stone, which can be raised or lowered, rotates on top of the bedstone during operation.

When the stones are in position, a large cylindrical cover is placed over the stones to contain the flour during milling. Grain is fed into the center opening, or ‘eye’ of the millstone. As the runner-stone turns, the grain moves outward along the furrows and lands to the stone’s edge, where it emerges as flour. The freshly milled flour was directed to an elevator in the basement, then up to a sifter in the attic. In Wilson’s day, the finished flour came down a chute and was collected in a bag next to the stones.

The millstones currently on display, and still used to produce stone-ground whole wheat flour, date to 1912-13.  Wilson purchased them second-hand when Maple Leaf Mills relocated from Thorold to Port Colborne. He replaced his old stones with a higher-quality set in response to growing public interest in the health benefits of whole wheat flour.

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.