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sees p20 weekender may 9 1987 mill condos history coming full circle by bruce etheridge when the official ground breaking ceremony for the mar- kham mill condominium takes place in june those taking part will be digging into markham his tory the old mill was markhams first industrial site when a grist mill was built more than 180 years ago long before that the area was an indian burial ground and according to local historian john lunau a wheat cereal was made at the mill that could have been every bit as popular as shredded wheat mr lunau said the original owner of the land sold a portion of it to the first millwright that came to markham village the mill wright nicholas miller built a grist mill by the rouge river in 1806 and settlers came from miles around to have flour made peter milne bought the mill in 1819 and expanded the operation to a grist flour and woollen mill he also established markhams first store a building constructed out of logs under the ownership of the milne family which spanned three generations a large dam was built creating milnes pond initially the level of the pond was raised above what is now hwy 7 flooding land nearly to the village of unionville the level was dropped after local farmers brought lawsuits against the milnes because of flooded pas- tureland the milne family also had the first brick home built in mar kham the clay used in making the bricks was taken from their own fields and baked in an onsite kiln peter milnes three grandsons manufactured a wheat cereal that was shipped out of markham railway station by the ton mr lunau said but the family failed to follow through with the ven ture the mill was also the site of the first apple orchard in the area mr lunau said one apple tree by the old milne house was more than 100 years old and had a girth of three feet the original grist mill built by nicholas miller became mar khams first source of hydro electric power in 1889 supplying the village with arc lighting in 1911 archie milne had a ce ment dam built then said to be the first of its kind in north amer ica in an attempt to contain a body of water powerful enough to drive dynamos that would supply the entire village with electricity but shortly thereafter ontario hydro came up hwy 48 dousing the lights on archie milnes dream a fine collection of indian arti facts were also found around the mill and loaned by the milne fami ly to the university of toronto but the relics were lost in a fire which gutted the university in 1890 the last mill on the site burned down in 1935 ending an era in markham history potluck supper the york region chapter of the friends of schizophrenics will hold a potluck supper wednesday may 20 at 730 pm in the old town hall newmarket everyone is welcome for more information call 1-800-263- 2018 living lighting we make your lighting fyjfityjl hwy 7 east of mccowan 266 wellington st west 2949557 sale ends may 30 1987