What stands out in my mind about my first drive through Avening when I was a little girl was the old mill in the middle of the road. My family and I were on our way to visit friends a few miles distant. When we approached the building we had to take a jog around it to get to the other side. I have been told that this mill burned one Hallowe’en night and strangely two other mills elsewhere also burned. Nevertheless the jog in the road continued for quite a few years.
The fire was the end of the mill. The dam which held back water was swept away during Hurricane Hazel, the night of Oct. 15, 1954.
The dam made a pleasant pond although not too deep. Much use was made of the mill pond. In summer it was used for swimming and boating with a row boat. In the notes I came across it was said the pond was “a place for admiring girls.”
A heat wave in July 1936 caused the temperature of the water to rise to 98 ̊F. You can imagine how little relief that would bring to people trying to cool off.
The Sunday School picnics were held on the west bank of the pond. There was a food booth, tables, swings, games and finally cake and homemade ice cream.
In winter the ice was cleared for skating. Creemore skaters and hockey players, I have been told, would skate down the river to meet up with their Avening friends. The ice on the pond was also cut for blocks of ice to use in household iceboxes in summer. No refrigerators then. The water plunging over the dam was used to generate electricity used in several homes.
What a gift the mill, dam and pond was for the people of Avening. As you drive through Avening today there is no sign of the mill or pond. A new bridge over the Mad River was ready for traffic in August 2010. It sits where the old mill once sat.
And now some more about Avening history. Fredierick C. Thornbury came from West Gwillimbury about 1845 and later built a grist mill, saw mill and woolen mill about 1860. The Thornburys named the place Avening after Avening in Gloucester, England.
The Belden Atlas of Simcoe County 1881 tells us that “Avening, although comparatively new, is a flourishing village of about 300 souls, and is a vigorous rival to Creemore, from which it is distant only two miles. It also has a station on the Hamilton and North-Western Railway, and the advantage of water power furnished by the Mad River, as well as good agricultural country in its neighbourhood. It has a daily mail, telegraph offices, two saw mills, shingle, planing and grist mills, a couple of general stores, a couple of mechanics shops, two hotels, church, school, etc. It is spoken of as a smart place.”
Helen Blackburn is a retired teacher, avid gardener and a long-time contributor to The Creemore Echo. She writes about local history.
