KAGAWONG—It promises to be a night to remember as the Billings Museum Committee is hosting a 100th anniversary gala of the Old Mill in Kagawong.
“It is a momentous anniversary, and it is important to remember all the history that has taken place in this building,” stated Dianne Fraser, of the Billings Museum Committee. “The fact that this building started out as a pulp mill (for five years) and evolved into a hydro generating station that supplied power to all of Manitoulin Island in the early 1930s.” Increased demand for hydro led to its closure in 1962.
“After it was decommissioned, the building was vacant for a number of years,” said Ms. Fraser. “Community members decided to repurpose the building into a community hall in 1990. A lot of community members were involved.”
Ms. Fraser explained, “In the 2000s Billings council wanted to repurpose one section of the building, and it became the municipal office and an art studio upstairs (Edwards Art Studios). Then council and the mayor wanted to repurpose this section of the building and see if it could be turned into a museum or heritage centre.”
At the time the Kagawong Historical Centre owned the post office (from Spring Bay) and then when they were looking to open a museum, advice and recommendations were provided by the Ministry of Culture that helped in this going forward, said Ms. Fraser. “One of the things the ministry representative told us was that in order to become a heritage museum was that the committee had to take over the post office museum, and that the building should exhibit what has been in the area over the years, such as Berry Boats, the pump mill, hydro electric generating plant, commercial and sport fishing, local businesses, Daniel Dodge, agriculture, fossils, Bridal Veil Falls, ships and shipping, the Niagara Escarpment and the fact that this riding was Lester B. Pearson’s, with Thomas Farquhar having given up his seat for Mr. Pearson to fill this position, and Austin Hunt (long-time mayor, reeve and council member in Billings) was Mr. Pearson’s campaign manager. All of this ended up being very good advice from the ministry,” said Ms. Fraser.
“The post office museum was moved from its previous location behind the Manitoulin Chocolate Works building close to the Old Mill,” said Ms. Fraser.
In 2007 Rick Nelson was hired as the museum curator, as the township had received two grants to hire a curator. “From there we started building up the exhibit we had,” said Ms. Fraser. “Over the years community members have been very helpful by donating many items to bring our museum exhibition come alive.”
Ms. Fraser noted as well over the years the Old Mill Heritage Centre Museum interior has seen changes, such as the construction of a barn and exhibits being featured in it, including pictures and information of the barns of Billings Township over the years. “Residents and visitors of Billings can take a historic tour of Kagawong, which provide the buildings that still exist and sketches of those that no longer exist.”
The Old Mill Heritage Centre Museum opened in 2008 and held its grand opening in 2009.
“The committee has been discussing holding this celebration for about two years now, especially last year, to put plans in order.”
For the celebration of the 100 years of the Old Mill, the Billings Museum Committee has planned a day gala on July 19 from 10 am to 5 pm, with refreshments provided, and a night gala from 7 to 9 pm, with a short program and refreshments. Ms. Fraser will emcee the night gala event where she will welcome everyone with speakers to include Billings Mayor Bryan Barker, MPP Bill Rosenberg and MP Jim Belanger.
Ms. Fraser said for the celebration the Old Mill Museum has a new visitors book, an updated binder collection of newspaper articles from 2007-2025, a photo album of exhibits through the years developed to share the history of Billings, Manitoulin Island and special new events such as The Empress of Ireland. These photographs are also digitized on a small screen.
“Also to mark this special occasion, there are two items: a book, “Kagawong Old Mill-Celebrating 100 Years” and a commemorative pin of the Old Mill that will be available very soon,” continued Ms. Fraser.
