Morningstar Mill

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Morningstar Mill

The Morningstar Mill site is still undergoing restoration and is therefore currently closed to the public. We look forward to welcoming you back in 2026.

Morningstar Mill

Wilson Morningstar operated a flour mill called Mountain Mills from 1883 to 1933. The site features a working grist mill built in 1872, a turbine shed, a saw mill, a blacksmith and carpentry shop, and the home of the Morningstar family. In its ultimate development, the site was powered by three turbines. One turbine ran the grist mill, another ran the saw mill, and the third ran

a generator which powered a private electrical lighting system on the property. The turbine which powered the grist mill also ran an apple cider mill and a lathe. Wilson's granddaughter, Lorna, recounts...‘On the 3.6 acres of the property, there was more activity than just that at the saw mill and grist mill... across the stream where the saw mill stood was an orchard of apples, cherries, pears and peaches, and a large vegetable garden. [There was] a barn, where a team of horses, a cow, chickens and pigs were kept … [and] a workshop and blacksmith shop stood where the parking lot now is. Grandfather shod his own and the neighbours’ horses, set wagon and buggy tires and performed many other tasks.’

Stories of Wilson Morningstar and the sights and sounds of mill life have been preserved through early photographs, handwritten logbooks and letters, and the fond recollections of two of Wilson’s grandchildren, Lorna and Donald Robson. The Mill

The mill is constructed from locally quarried stone; it features a gabled roof with wood shingles and double-hung windows with six panes in each sash. Inside the mill, the wooden floors, beams, grain and flour elevators, and the roller milling equipment date from 1893. In November 1892, a fire destroyed the interior of the mill and turbine shed. This gave Wilson Morningstar the opportunity to update his milling operation with the latest equipment. The mill features a two break three reduction Greey Roller Mill system for making white flour, a grain cleaner, a corn cob sheller, an oat roller, an attrition mill for chopping grain for animal feed, and a traditional millstone which was installed around 1911. The Miller's House

Wilson Morningstar had the white two-storey house built by a master carpenter and his assistant from Thorold in about 1895. The simple late-Victorian era house features three gables, scalloped clapboard siding, large bay windows and interior window benches, three porches with decorative wood columns and wooden brackets, ball and spindle gingerbread, double hung windows and a large pocket (sliding) door in the parlour’s entrance. The house originally had 11 rooms, including 5 bedrooms. Later History

By 1930, Wilson had gradually shut down his flour milling business. After Wilson died in 1933, Wilson’s son-in-law, David Robson, continued to produce animal feed for local farmers on the occasional weekend for a few years until the turbine seized. Wilson Morningstar and his wife, Emma, occupied the house throughout their lifetimes. When Wilson died, Wilson’s oldest daughter and her family moved back into the house, and her children (Wilson’s grandchildren) lived in the house until 1991. Wilson’s granddaughter, Lorna Robson, bequeathed the contents of the mill and house to the City of St. Catharines in 1994. Today, the operation of the mill and the conservation of the buildings and property are made possible by the ongoing efforts and support of the Friends of Morningstar Mill, the community and the City of St. Catharines.

06/05/2026

Doors Open St. Catharines takes place on Saturday, June 13 from 10 am to 4 pm. While the mill will not be open for the event, our neighbours on Pelham Road will be.

Step inside the past at The Brown Homestead, the site of the oldest home in St. Catharines. Settled by United Empire Loyalists in the 1780s, it remained a family farm for nearly 200 years. Visitors can enjoy self-paced tours, hands-on heritage craft demonstrations (including carpentry, stained glass, natural dyeing, and more), and explore new community exhibits such as Indigenous Art 2026 and Niagara in Focus. This family-friendly site also offers lawn games, activities, and refreshments from Char in the Kitchen, all set within a beautiful pastoral landscape perfect for a relaxed visit.

05/08/2026

Views of the dam and water inlet...

05/01/2026

David Robson and Decew Generating Station 1:

David Robson was born in Fonthill in 1882 and married Nora Morningstar, the daughter of Wilson and Emma Morningstar, in 1911. About ten years earlier, after finishing high school, he was looking for work.

His older sister, Jenn, was very supportive and proactive in helping him. In one letter, she urged him to apply to Packard Motor Car Company as soon as possible – ideally the same day he received her letter – if he had not already done so. She encouraged him to make every effort to get there and to report back to her when he had applied. Jenn also mentioned another job opportunity, explaining that she had lightly filled in parts of the application in pencil so that he could trace over the words in ink and then erase the pencil marks afterward.

While we don’t know whether David applied to Packard or what company the unidentified application was for, we do know that in 1900 he began working as a handyman at the ‘brand new Decew Falls Powerhouse.’

At that time, David was 18 years old and had moved to Power Glen from Beamsville. In 1901, he earned $230 as an electric labourer, and in 1911, he earned $1,110 as 1st Operator of the Station. The working conditions at that time were demanding. In those days…

‘operators worked seven days as week, 2 weeks on each shift, 7 to 3, 3 to 11 and 11 to 7. No days off a week and 10 days vacation in the summer, and that only by doubling up on the work. To the present-day worker, that seems incredible, but nevertheless, it is true. Also, every six weeks each operator worked 16 hours, 7 – 11, in order to change over and give one operator a shift off.’

David became Assistant Superintendent in 1918, and Chief Operator in 1930, when Ontario Hydro purchased the Decew Falls Plant from the Dominion Power and Transmission Company. He held this position until he retired in 1949. Over the course of his career, there were many challenges…’Fires, floods, ice and some bad accidents to employees… Dave himself was badly burnt, and another employee was fatally injured in November 1943.’

Objects in the Morningstar Mill collection also offer glimpses into daily life at the Decew Plant. Members of the Morningstar family all had Station Passes to the ‘Power Station and Grounds’. In 1927, Donald Robson, Wilson and Emma’s grandson, caught a 30 lb sturgeon at the gate house. There were company activities which included square and round dances, winter sleigh rides, and a bowling team that placed first in 1929. The plant itself also won numerous ‘Certificates of Merits’ for its good appearance and operation.

Jenn’s determined efforts to help her brother find a work paid off. Dave went on to excel at the Decew plant, beginning a long and successful career steps away from Decew Falls and Morningstar Mill.

04/23/2026

Happy National Volunteer Week! Thank you to all the Friends of Morningstar Mill for their continued support - the site would truly not be the site it is without you! Your many talents and interests help make the mill a vibrant and enjoyable place to be!

04/17/2026

Continuing with family history, this time focusing on David Robson, Wilson and Emma’s son-in-law. Unlike the Morningstar and Sutton families, who immigrated from the Rhineland region in Germany during the 1700s due to religious reasons, economic instability, and war, the Robson and Scott families left Scotland after a relative’s gambling habit lead to significant financial difficulties.

Lorna’s paternal great-grandparents and grandparents emigrated from Scotland in the 1870s. Their family roots trace back to the Weensland estate near Hawick, where they maintained a sheep farm and operated one of the earliest grist mills in the region.

This property was entailed, meaning it was inherited through the male line and passed from father to eldest son. The family also upheld a long-standing tradition of naming the eldest son Thomas, resulting in generations of ‘Auld (Old) Tom’ and ‘Young Tom’ Scott at Weensland.

This tradition continued until the last Auld Tom - Lorna and Donald’s great-great-great-grandfather, whose passion for horse racing and gambling led to significant financial ruin. Facing mounting debt and possible imprisonment, he persuaded his son, Young Tom, to break the entail which ended the family’s long-standing hold on the Weensland estate. Forced to sell the estate, Young Tom and his wife, Notmace, and their family, felt that they had to begin a new life elsewhere.

Lorna and Donald’s great-grandparents and grandparents emigrated from Scotland. They initially intended to settle in Australia; however, when their ship came into the New York City harbour at a 45-degree angle, Lorna and Donald’s great-grandmother said that ‘she was not getting on another ship.’

The family initially settled in Ottawa where there was work available on the Rideau Canal. Lorna says that her great-grandfather was a blacksmith that sharpened tools and her grandfather was a stone mason.

Her grandparents, John Robson and Mary Scott, later moved to Thorold so that John could work on the Third Welland Canal, and then to Beamsville, where he worked for the Gibson Quarry, cutting and shipping stone for building projects. They had 5 children: Janet, William, David, Edith and Walter.

David Robson was born in Fonthill in 1882 and later married Nora Morningstar, the daughter of Wilson and Emma Morningstar, in 1911 (photo 1). More to come…

04/10/2026

Alongside photos of Wilson and his siblings, the hallway display (photo 1) also features a four-generation maternal family portrait of the Sutton family (photo 2), showing Emma with her daughters, Nora and Jessie; her granddaughter, Lorna; and her mother, Jemima Sutton, along with a Sutton-Fretz family register (photo 3).

Emma’s family history closely parallels to Wilson’s, and much like Glen Morningstar’s dedication to researching his family’s past, we are fortunate that one of Emma’s relatives also recorded their history in 1904.

Emma’s great-great-grandparents: John Fretz (1749 – 1815) and Magdelena Fox (1748 – 1820):

John Fretz is believed to be related to one of the two Fretz brothers, John or Christian, that emigrated from Germany to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania between 1710 and 1720. Like the Morningstar family, the brothers also experienced the loss of a family member (a sibling) on their journey to America. John worked as a wheelwright, joiner, and manufacturer of fanning mills. In about 1770, he married Magdelena Fox of Pennsylvania, and together they raised seven children: Barbara, Abraham, Daniel, Jacob, Peter, Frances, Mary. In 1800, the family set out for Welland County, leaving behind their daughter Barbara and son Daniel. Their journey took six weeks and was made with their livestock in tow. Each night, bells were fastened to the animals before they were released to graze. In the morning, after milking, the milk was placed in a churn secured to the rear of the wagon, allowing butter to be churned as they travelled. On June 12, with the assistance from friendly Indigenous people, they crossed the Niagara River on a raft, swimming their horses and cattle across beside them. They eventually settled on approximately 400 acres in Bertie Township where John built a log house. A family burial ground was established on the property, and it remains in use today.

Emma’s great grandparents: Jacob Fretz (1778/9 – 1850) and Barbara Sherk (1782 -1839):

Jacob was born in Rapho Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and came to Niagara with his parents in 1800. Soon after his arrival, he married Barbara Sherk, who was also from Lancaster County. Together, they had 10 children: John, Samuel, Jemima, Frances, Magdalena, Barbara, Elizabeth, Catharine, [unknown], and Mary – all of whom were born in Bertie Township, Welland County. Jacob served in the War of 1812, participated in local politics, worked as a farmer and wheelwright, and was a member of the Mennonite Church.

Emma’s maternal grandparents: John Fretz (1802 – 1881) and Catherine Zavitz (1805 - 1832):

John and Catherine were both born in Bertie, Ontario. They married in 1826 and had three children: Samuel, Jemima and Susanna. Catherine died in 1832 at the age of 27. In 1847, John remarried, marrying Prudence Sarah Pound (1816 - 1915). Together, they had three children: Jacob, William and Catharine. John worked as a wheelwright.

Emma’s parents: Jemima Fretz (1829 -1920) and Benjamin Sutton (1822 – 1890):

Jemima was born in 1829 in Bertie to John Fretz and Catherine Zavitz. In 1851, she married Benjamin Sutton of Stamford. They made their home there and had three children: Alanson, Elizabeth and Emma. In 1864, the family moved to Pelham, where their fourth child, Amanda, was born. An obituary notes that although Jemima ‘attained a great age’ of 91, she remained remarkably active. She was known for sharing many interesting stories of pioneer life in Welland County, she maintained a keen interest in current events, and during the First World War, she devoted much of her time to knitting for the Red Cross.

Emma Sutton (1863 – 1943):

Emma was born in 1863, and when she married Wilson Mornignstar in 1883, their union brought together two families with remarkably similar histories. Her relatives, like the Morningstars, emigrated from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania before relocating to Niagara following the American Revolutionary War. Their histories share similar experiences of loss, perseverance, and the hope of establishing a stable life.

04/02/2026

More Morningstar family history…with a brief recap of the Bavarian Morningstars

Thanks to Glen Morningstar’s family research and other primary sources like pioneer biographies and memoirs, we can better understand the challenges faced by families who left their homes in search of new opportunities in North America. The Morningstar journey was marked with hardship and loss, followed by the ongoing challenge of building and maintaining a stable life across generations.

Johannes and Anna Morningstar (great-great grandparents of Wilson Morningstar):

The Morningstar family history begins in Bavaria, where Johannes and Anna were born. As they prepared to leave their homeland, they made the difficult decision to part with two of their children, leaving their eldest daughter, Maria (18), behind to care for their youngest son, Johann Nickel (5). The journey across the Altantic in 1749 was marked by unexpected heartbreak when Johannes died during the voyage. This left Anna and their two sons, Johannes Jacob (16) and Johann Daniel (12) with the immense challenge of establishing a new life in North America by themselves.

Johannes Jacob Morningstar (son of above) and Sarah Brunner (great grandparents of Wilson Morningstar):

The family eventually settled in Pennsylvania where Johannes Jacob became a farmer and operated a fulling mill. During the American Revolutionary War (1775 – 1783), their Loyalist sympathies placed them in precarious situations. To protect their livelihood, Johannes Jacob hid the mill machinery by sinking it into a river. In 1792, the family relocated to Black Creek in Willoughby Township, Lincoln County, Upper Canada, which marks the beginning the Morningstar family’s story in Niagara. With determined effort, Johannes Jacob later returned to the United States to recover the buried machinery. The journey, which took 19 weeks, included retrieving the equipment, trading his overworked and exhausted horse for a yoke of oxen, and running out of money along the way. Fortunately, he encountered a ‘friendly Quaker’ who lent him the funds needed to return home, without even asking for an IOU. True to his word, Johannes Jacob repaid the debt the following spring. The recovered machinery was then used to establish a woolen mill.

Benjamin Morningstar (son of above) and Leah Stoner (grandparents of Wilson Morningstar):

Benjamin was born in Pennsylvania in 1789 and came to Upper Canada when he was about 3 years old. He later married Leah Stoner, whose parents, Christian Stoner and Elizabethe Neff, were also early settlers who had emigrated from Pennsylvania. The family first settled in Black Creek, north of Fort Erie, but in 1814, after their home was burned during of the War of 1812, the family moved to Humberstone (Port Colborne), where they started a new farm.

Abraham Morningstar (son of Benjamin) and Mary Sherk: (parents of Wilson Morningstar)

Abraham was born in Humberstone in 1821, and married Mary Sherk in 1844. Like his father, he worked as a farmer. Abraham and Mary had ten children, but only seven lived to adulthood: Caroline, Catharine, Wilson, Clayton, Cyrenus, Almira and Wallace. (We have photos of Wilson and Cyrenus (photo 1), Almira and Wallace (photo 2) and Clayton (photo 3) in the collection and are on display in the 2nd floor hallway in the house.)

Wilson Morningstar:

Wilson was born in 1854 in a log house (photo 4) on Cedar Bay Road, in Gas Line, Humberstone (just east of Port Colborne). When he married Emma Sutton in 1883, he joined another United Empire Loyalist family that had emigrated from Pennsylvania to Niagara in the late 1790s, further intertwining two long-established family histories in the region.

12/19/2025

Christmas and Winters at Decew Falls

Through Lorna and Jessie’s memories, we are able to glimpse at Christmas and winter traditions at Decew Falls. Before Christmas, the Morningstars would venture into the woods behind the house to cut down a hemlock tree. When Lorna went to bed on Christmas Eve, the tree stood undecorated, but by morning it was fully decorated, with presents arranged around its base.

Lorna also remembered that her grandfather, Wilson Morningstar, always gave her an orange at Christmas. At the time it seemed like a small gift, but later she came to understand that oranges were once a rare treat, available only during the holiday season. She believed that her grandfather had likely received an orange as a child, and that this small gift was his way of passing along a memory from his own childhood.

The Morningstars also exchanged greeting cards (photos 1, 2), small handmade gifts, and books (photo 3) with family and friends. Jessie received The White Company, a historical adventure novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, in 1905, and a decade later, Lorna was given Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter from her ‘Nanna.’

Holiday gift-giving extended beyond books. A thank-you note dated December 27, 1910, from David to his uncle David Robson (Nora’s future husband), proudly listed all the Christmas gifts he had received: a tie from Grandma Scott, a nice knife from Aunt Edith, a watch and a pair of hockey skates – spelled ‘hakie skits’. He explained that he planned to use the fifty cents his uncle had given him at the skating rink, where each visit cost fifteen cents.

Winter, as Jessie remembered it, was filled with outdoor activities and adventure (photos 4, 5). Days were spent building snow forts, having snowball fights, playing fox and goose, skating, tobogganing, bobsledding, and iceboating whenever the ice was clear and free of snow drifts. After an evening of skating, Jessie and her friends would go to someone’s home for hot cocoa and treats.

Moonlit sleigh rides were a particular highlight. A team of horses would pull a four-runner sleigh that could carry about twenty people. Everyone would snuggle down in the hay and bundle up under heavy buffalo robes, with hot bricks wrapped in cloth or heavy paper to keep their feet warm. Jessie remembered that the ‘music of the bells on the horses as they trotted along blended with our voices as we sang.’

In these shared recollections, Christmas and winter seemed very snowy and cold (photo 6), yet filled with the warmth of family, friends and outdoor fun. We can easily imagine the joy these moments brought them.

Photographic Reference:

1. F1998-442-1966: Christmas postcard to Lorna form Wilson c 1920s
2. F1998-442-1959: Christmas postcard to Donald from Wilson c. 1920s
3. F1998-442-1102Lorna received a copy of Peter Rabbit from her Nanna in 1910
4. F1998-442-85: Nora Robson with her children, Donald and Lorna, 1922
5. F1998-442-81: Donald Robson with snowshoes, 1930s
6. F1998-442-268: Decew Falls, 1895 - 1910

Artifact Reference:

F2019-1-2: Jessie’s memoirs, p. 1-3

F1998-442-1948: Thank you letter postcard from nephew David to Uncle David Robson Dec 27, 1910

Reference:

Robson, Lorna and Hutchinson, Paul. Memories of Morningstar Mill. Slabtown Press. 1994. p 26

12/12/2025

We weren’t able to outpace the onset of cold weather this year, but we’ll only need about two more weeks to finish up the remaining mortar work once the temperatures warm up in the spring. We’re excited to welcome everyone back next season!

11/14/2025

Some photos from earlier this week…

Address

2714 Decew Road
Saint Catharines, ON
L2R6P7

Telephone

+19059848880

Website

http://www.morningstarmill.ca/

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