The Barber Paper Mill – The crumbling remains of a historic mill

Machine and maintenance shop. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.

July 2022

Built in 1854, along the Credit River in Georgetown, Ontario, it’s a rare example of a pre-Confederation industrial complex still standing, although one that’s slowly crumbling.

Originally operated by the four Barber brothers (Joseph, Robert, William, and James), the Barber Paper Mill also has the distinction of being the first electrical generating plant in North America. Over the next century and a half, the Barber Mill produced paper for things like books, posters, wallpaper and newspapers. By 1862, they reportedly had the largest wallpaper factory in North America.

In 1869, 30-year-old John Roaf (J.R.) Barber took over operation of the mill operation, which used water power to operate the machinery. Things ran smoothly for the next two decades, but by 1886, the growing the mill ran into an old problem: insufficient water power to keep the machines running.

To rectify the problem, Barber commissioned the construction of a 100-horsepower dynamo and a 60-horsepower DC motor. The generators were contained in a powerhouse, located along the river, a mile and a half east of the mill. Hydroelectric power was transmitted along copper wires back to the mill. Thus, Barber Mill became the first in Canada to generate electrical power for industrial production.

The three story stone dynamo building had the turbines on the first floor, dynamo equipment on the second and living and eating quarters on the third.

In addition to pioneering electrical generation for industrial usage, Barber was also an innovator in a new method for paper production. Prior to 1869, paper was commonly made out of cotton and linen rags. Barber added a pulp mill, so that paper could be made from oat, wheat and rye straw. By 1879, wood pulp was replacing straw, with Barber on the leading edge of this new manufacturing technology, producing some of the finest paper in Canada.

When J.R. Barber finally was able to convince the municipality to secure publicly-generated power in 1913, he closed the dynamo. Barber did allow the family hired to live in and maintain the dynamo to continue living in the building, but after their son died in an accident in 1918, the building was abandoned.

J.R. continued operating the Barber Paper Mill until retiring in 1911. He sold the mill to the Provincial Paper Company, who operated it until it closed in November 1948. Various tenants occupied the buildings until the mid-1970s, when the property was abandoned, remaining so to this day.

In 2008, the crumbling 13-acre complex was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The property owner, Everlast Group, made a proposal more that a decade ago to convert the property into a hotel and a small community of banquet facilities, art galleries, restaurants, and specialty shops, reminiscent of a small European village. Problems with clean-up of soil contaminated by years of heavy industry have left the future of the project in doubt.

The Barber Mill dynamo also remains standing, minus its roof.