The Delta Mill Society

The Old Stone Mill in Delta, built in 1810-11 by William Jones and Ira Schofield, is the earliest surviving example of a fully automatic flour mill in Ontario. In 1817 the mill was described as "unquestionably the best building of the kind in Upper Canada". It was built, using local stone and timber, following the design for an "Improved Merchant Flour Mill" (aka Automatic Mill) created by American inventor Oliver Evans. It follows the Evans' design but has several unique features such as acting as its own dam. The beauty of the exterior stonework and interior woodwork speaks to the skill of the millwright who designed and built it.

In 1963 the last owner of the Mill, Hastings Steele, deeded the Old Stone Mill to a group of four people in trust, for the sum of one dollar. Mr. Steele's prime concern was that the Mill should be preserved and would in time become a museum of milling technology. These four people founded the Delta Mill Society and, in 1972, the Society was incorporated as a Non-profit Corporation in the Province of Ontario.

The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada declared the Old Stone Mill at Delta to be a National Historic Site in 1970 (see: historicplaces.ca). The Old Stone Mill is the only surviving pre-1812 stone flour mill in Ontario. In 1978 the Old Stone Mill was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.