The seemingly lazy course of the Credit River belies its vital importance to early industry and settlement in historic Mississauga.

Water-powered mills once dotted the landscape, making use of natural (and harnessed) water energy to drive machinery. Few remnants remain on the landscape today, although some clues do remain. At the south end of Streetsville you will find Barbertown Road and Reid Drive, each of which connect to early mill sites, and to the only two remaining milling sites in our modern city. In Streetsville itself, you will find Mill Street and Ontario Street, both of which also once led to mill sites.

Mill Street led to Timothy Street’s mill complex, while Ontario Street led to John Church Hyde’s extensive Ontario Mills – the ruins of which can still be seen today. Here to the north of Streetsville you will find Alpha Mills Road, which once led to Christopher Row’s Alpha Grist Mill, which operated near here between 1827 and 1869. The road name is only reminder of the Alpha Mill site on the landscape today.

 

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