Eden Mills, Ontario

Eden Mills
Unincorporated community
York Street in Eden Mills
Eden Mills
Eden Mills
Coordinates: 43°34′43″N 80°08′36″W / 43.57861°N 80.14333°W / 43.57861; -80.14333
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
CountyWellington
TownshipGuelph/Eramosa
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
GNBC CodeFBBQT[1]

Eden Mills is an unincorporated community in the Township of Guelph/Eramosa, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada.[1][2]

Located on the Eramosa River, the Eden Mills Writers' Festival is an annual event.

History

The settlement was founded in 1842 by the Kribbs family, who built a mill on the Eramosa River.[3][4] First called "Kribbs Mill", it was renamed "Eden Mills" in 1846, when the new mill owner described the location as "beautiful as the Garden of Eden".[4][5] The early settlement had a post office, blacksmith, hotel, general store, taxidermist, oatmeal mill, several saw mills, and a community hall, erected around 1893.[3][5]

The population in 1902 was 300.[6]

The Toronto Suburban Railway was built to Guelph in 1917, with a stop in Eden Mills.[4][7] The railway enabled local farmers to ship produce to Toronto, and Eden Mills became a recreational destination for train travellers.[7] Around 1924, Edgewood Park was built near the railway station to attract visitors, and featured a baseball diamond, picnic area, cottages, a dance hall, and in 1928, a swimming pool.[7] The park was purchased in 1944 by the Lutheran Church of the Canada as a summer youth camp, and in 2017, the camp ceased operation and was sold to the Eden Mills River Conservation Authority.[7]

In 1930, the railway ceased operations, and Eden Mills became a police village (a form of municipal government previously used in Ontario).[4]

Eden Mills Writers' Festival is an annual event founded in 1989.[8]

Demographics

In the 1991 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Eden Mills had an estimated population of 319.[9]

Notable people

References

  1. ^ a b "Eden Mills". Natural Resources Canada. February 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "Guelph/Eramosa". Statistics Canada. November 2, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Home". edenmills.com. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Niblock, Francis (June 8, 1994). "Some Historical Notes on the Communities That Make Eramosa So Special". The Rockwood Miller. p. 13.
  5. ^ a b "Eden Mills set to celebrate its history". Guelph Today. January 27, 2019.
  6. ^ Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World. J.B. Lippincott. 1902. p. 695.
  7. ^ a b c d "Flash From the Past: Edgewood Park was the place to be in Eden Mills". Waterloo Region Record. March 10, 2023.
  8. ^ "Our Story". Eden Mills Writers Festival. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
  9. ^ a b 91 Census (PDF). Population and Dwelling Counts. Vol. Unincorporated Places. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. 1993. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  10. ^ Ninth Census of Canada, 1951 (PDF). Vol. SP-7 (Population: Unincorporated villages and hamlets). Dominion Bureau of Statistics. March 31, 1954. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  11. ^ Census of Canada, 1956 (PDF). Vol. Population of unincorporated villages and settlements. Dominion Bureau of Statistics. October 25, 1957. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  12. ^ 1961 Census of Canada: Population (PDF). Series SP: Unincorporated Villages. Vol. Bulletin SP—4. Ottawa: Dominion Bureau of Statistics. April 18, 1963. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  13. ^ Census of Canada 1966: Population (PDF). Special Bulletin: Unincorporated Places. Vol. Bulletin S–3. Ottawa: Dominion Bureau of Statistics. 1968. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  14. ^ 1971 Census of Canada: Population (PDF). Special Bulletin: Unincorporated Settlements. Vol. Bulletin SP—1. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. 1973. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "Geographical Identification and Population for Unincorporated Places of 25 persons and over, 1971 and 1976". 1976 Census of Canada (PDF). Supplementary Bulletins: Geographic and Demographic (Population of Unincorporated Places—Canada). Vol. Bulletin 8SG.1. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. 1978. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  16. ^ 1986 Census of Canada (PDF). Population. Vol. Unincorporated Places. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. 1988. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  17. ^ Thorning, Stephen (June 10, 2020). "Elora had to fight to appoint David Boyle principal". Wellington Advertiser.
  18. ^ Jackson, Adam (December 7, 2016). "The story of Michael Faulds' improbable journey to be named best coach in university football". Waterloo Chronicle.
  19. ^ Seto, Chris (April 25, 2014). "Local photographer helps sick children draw hope". Guelph Mercury Tribune.

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