Elora Mill is one of the area's most iconic features, attracting a wide array of tourists and history buffs as well as inn visitors.
The historic structure has stood at the end of Mill Street since it was rebuilt and enlarged following an 1859 fire that burned down the original, notes Wellington County History volume 23, printed in 2010. The original was constructed in 1843 by Charles Allan and sold three years later to J.M. Fraser who operated it as a flour mill and distillery.
“At the time and for many years later, stone masons were coming out from Scotland to settle in different parts of Canada. They were paid very small wages for their work in those days,” explains a document provided by Wellington County Historical Society. “The working day was 10 hours long and the pay was usually about 75 cents a day.
“Materials were also very cheap,” it adds, “the cost of building the mill at the time being around $6,000.”
Numerous materials were produced at the mill through the years.
The mill opened as an inn for the first time in 1975 and since 2018 operates as the Elora Mill Hotel & Spa.
