Elizabeth Hall
A Walk Through History
John Herring & Sons were the owners of the Napanee Agricultural Works that were founded in 1842. They were pioneers in that line in the Bay of Quinte District and manufactured things for cultivating soil and machines for harvesting. Each machine was made using the latest improvements of the century. The Napanee Agricultural Works made things like mowers, reapers, binders, plows, and riding-plows. Some of their noticeable works include the Herring Light Reaper and their Canadian New Model Mower, which included all the modern improvements. It had fewer parts than any other mower built and was durable, strong, light running, had a strong cutting power and was easily operated. Some others were the Herring New Spring Tooth Cultivator and the improved Iron Duke Cultivator.
Another building used in Napanee was “The Big Mill”, which is what it was generally called. It was one of the oldest established mills in Ontario and had been rebuilt and remodelled many times throughout the nineteenth century. During the late nineteenth century, the Big Mill had a capacity of 100 barrels per day. It belonged to Sir R.J Cartwright but was operated by a man named Mr. Dafoe. Cartwright’s footbridge was made around 1887 to replace another bridge that was made to provide easy access to the Big Mill by both Cartwright himself and the farmers that worked at the mill but lived on the south side of the town.
Saw mills and Grist mills weren’t established in Napanee until the Loyalist Settlers arrived in the area. During the nineteenth century, Napanee’s waterfront was lined by factories and mills, and lumber yards and coal yards lined its banks, making it completely industrial. Ships carrying lumber and coal came down the river all the way from the Bay of Quinte to the Napanee falls, which was named ‘Appannea’ before the Loyalist Settlers came. People from Napanee found jobs as sailors and ship captains during this time.
Random History Fact: Wolfe island was named after a British General named James Wolfe. It was originally named Grand Island but when General Wolfe died in a battle against the French they instead named the island after him.