Milling Around: Arva Flour Mills

 

This summer a friend and I were fortunate enough to get a rare behind-the-scenes tour of Arva Flour Mills from its new owner. I say fortunate because it's not everyone who's had a chance to view the antique milling equipment inside this pioneer building on the banks of Medway Creek. I say rare, because most visitors only see the workings through a door while shopping in the attached store. But I have friends in high places: my travelling companion once worked with owner Mark Rinker's dad, Fred. They got chatting, and the rest is history. 

Mark, who purchased the business from Mike Matthews in 2021, has done his research and believes the mill, established in 1819, is Canada's sixth-oldest continuously operating business. And perhaps the oldest food-producing company in Canada too. Most historians agree that Arva Flour Mills is North America's oldest continuously-operating, water-powered commercial flour mill. 

Pioneer tool marks on an interior beam.

The business was founded when much of the surrounding area was forest and nearby Richmond Street, then known as the Proof Line, was the main route north through London Township. In the 1800s, the owner often allowed customers to barter for flour, accepting items like turnips or boots as payment. 

In early twentieth century, the original grist millstones were replaced with roller mills made by Goldie and McCulloch of Galt (now Cambridge), state-of-the-art technology for the era. At the same time, an outside water wheel was changed to an underwater turbine. For the most part, the mill operates the same way as it did in the early 1900s, half run by water power, the rest by electricity. 

The equipment allowed the mill to produce 30,000 pounds of flour a day, much of which was purchased by McCormick's in London. With little competition and a major company as a customer, there was probably little need to update equipment, which is why the mill is a rare operating antique in the twenty-first century. 

While there have been many owners over the years, the family of Mike Matthews operated the mill for over four generations since 1919. That must be some kind of flour mill record. 

As I mentioned in a previous post on mills, Arva Flour Mills was shut down by a federal safety inspector in 2017. The inspector was concerned that the old equipment, with its exposed rollers and belts, was a hazard for workers. This despite the fact that Mike and his workers were highly trained on the use of their machinery. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and a federal tribunal later overturned the ruling. The mill was allowed to operate again on the understanding that no workers, not even the owner, are allowed in the upper level of the mill when the equipment is running. Fair enough.

Mark Rinker shows off his equipment.

 Using wheat from local farms, the old roller mills  produce a     "heritage flour" with no preservatives or undesirable     commercial  additives. The store sells flours, mixes for beer   bread and cornbread, and red fife pancake mix as part of the   Arva Flour Mills brand. Mark also bought the Red River Cereal   brand from Smuckers Foods of Canada which had stopped   selling the brand last year. Created in Manitoba in 1924, the   cereal was named after the Red River near Winnipeg. The   recipe  included cracked wheat and rye but was altered about   ten  years ago to include steel-cut wheat instead. Mark's historic   business is now producing the original recipe on site. The cereal   is now available at the mill store and beyond. 

 For such an old business to be booming is fabulous for Mark     and  his family but also for the community of Arva, the wider   London region, and heritage preservationists. The mill's   continued success under sympathetic, enthusiastic management   proves that not everything old needs to be demolished. 

Arva Flour Mills remains a significant and valuable Southwestern Ontario landmark. 

Milling Around: The Hunt Mill

London's latest interpretive sign was unveiled Thursday, May 19, 2016 in Carfrae Park on the northwest corner of Richmond and Carfrae streets. Entitled "City Mills: The Legacy of Charles Hunt," the sign is just across the Thames from the site of Charles Hunt's first business, the pioneer mill that became one of the most successful, and longest-running, in London.

Hunt immigrated to Canada from Britain at the age of 22 and worked his way up to become one of London's most important businessmen. In 1856 he established City Mills, having bought the land from John Kinder Labatt in 1853. Hunt built a dam on the Thames River and channeled water along a millrace from the river to a waterwheel at the mill. With four pairs of stones for grinding wheat, the sign tells us, the mill produced about 215 bushels of flour a day. That was enough to sell at Hunt's store on Richmond Street, The Golden Sheaf, as well as enough to sell abroad. Hunt's property eventually included a cooperage, granary, and cottages for his mill workers.

Following Charles' death in 1871, his sons Charles and John took over the mill and renamed it Hunt Bros. Ltd. In 1917, the Hunts abandoned this location and moved their operations to a six-storey flour mill powered by electricity on Nightingale Street. The new concrete structure, probably the tallest in the city at that time, was close to rail lines and could produce 1200 bushels of flour a day. A tragic fire there in 1934 took the lives of two London firefighters. The business closed in 1957, after being owned by four generations of the Hunt family.

The structure seen in the river at the original site today is not Charles Hunt's dam but a concrete weir built in the 1930s. It's a Depression-era sewer infrastructure project led by Charles' youngest son, Albert Ontario Hunt, then assistant manager of London's PUC. It's an attractive scene, though perhaps not so idyllic as the views pictured on the new sign showing the original mill and its 19th-century environs.

The sign was made possible by Albert's grandson, Jay Hunt of Ottawa, who for some time has been lobbying the city to recognize the contributions made by his grandfather. His dream finally came true at the interpretive sign unveiling Thursday morning. The night before, Jay entertained the London & Middlesex Historical Society with the story of his successful great-grandfather and the family business.

The Hunt mill may be no more but those wishing to view a working example of an old-style mill can still see vintage machinery in the London area. The Arva Flour Mill, Canada's oldest water-powered flour mill, began operations on Medway Creek in 1819. Unfortunately, federal inspectors recently decided its exposed antique rollers and leather belt-driven motors don't meet today's safety codes. The machinery came to a halt for a while but now owner Mike Matthews has been allowed to resume  operations - without any staff. It's questionable how long Mr. Matthews will be able to run the mill by himself, even while the federal decision is under appeal.

Wouldn't it make sense for there to be a safety code exemption for historic facilities? Shouldn't the government regulations have a grandfather clause for a living, working museum? Many of us would say yes. Unaffordable upgrades take away the uniqueness of the mill. If you've never been to the Arva mill, get there fast.

Update, February 2017: Arva Flour Mill is now back in operation, which is good news for heritage advocates as well as local bakers. A federal tribunal overturned the 2016 safety ruling, after an appeals officer argued that mill staff are well-equipped to work the old machinery. What is still being clarified, however, is whether the owner will need additional guards on the machinery and training for staff.