Blair Mill


The Sheave Tower

Location: Blair

Status: Viewing only - Heritage Cambridge owns the Sheave Tower. The main mill is privately owned and closed to the public.

Waypoint: Google Map

Summary: In 1851 the mill in Blair employed three men and produced 7,000 bushels of flour. In 1876 the Sheave Tower was built, located in a scenic woodland just across the road. This Sheave Tower, or Power Tower, is a 10 m (31 foot) high red board-and-batten structure. It housed a water-powered turbine that helped to boost the mill’s capacity by reusing water that had already gone through the main waterwheel.

In 1928 the main mill was gutted by fire, resulting in the destruction of the top three stories. Today’s one-storey mill was rebuilt on the original foundation, and in 2000 it was Canada’s oldest independently operated corn mill. The Sheave Tower is officially recognized by the Waterloo Historical Society as one of the world’s smallest hydro generating projects, and is today preserved by Heritage Cambridge.