Norwood was once a hub of industry
The Norwood of yesteryear would be almost unrecognizable to its modern counterpart. Due to simple logistics, early communities needed to be selfsufficient when it came to providing for the needs of its residents. Correspondingly, for a community to grow, it also needed to be able to provide a source of income for these residents.
While present-day Norwood continues to be a growing community, much of this growth is supported by industry in larger urban centers such as Peterborough, Oshawa and Toronto that provide the jobs (or their retirees).
In the mid 1800s, Norwood provided its own industrial hub to support itself, and the first workforce in town would have been the men that our village founder Joseph Keeler would have hired to clear the land and construct his saw and grist mill in the 1820s.
The second source of commerce in town would have been the mills themselves and they would have required at least a few able bodies to operate them.
Agriculture was and continues to dominate in rural areas and many industries such as the mill itself were necessary to provide for the farmer and their families.
The village at one time had a range of factories and industries that manufactured nearly everything that a growing town required and in many cases also produced extra for export. We had a Woolen Mill producing a fine line of fabrics (It will be featured in a future column).
There was a pump factory that turned out wooden hand pumps. We had a couple of dairies and a creamery (to make butter). We had more than one harness shop that produced high-quality harnesses and, to supply their needs, we had two tanneries to make leather. Norwood had its own hub and wheel workshop known as the Findlay factory. At one point, it employed more than 50 people.
There was also a furniture factory run by a Mr. Minaker that produced a range of furniture and cabinetry for home and business. It was located behind the present day Norwood Library.
The Norwood Foundry and Machine Shop was established and operated by a W.P. Plant around 1860. The buildings and furnaces were located at the corner of Alma and Queen Street and they covered a considerable area as was no doubt required by the several processes required with casting metal.
Mr. Plant apparently did a great amount of custom work, making parts for assembly in nearby blacksmith shops and carriage makers.
He also manufactured many items of farm machinery of the era such as plows and scufflers, some road machinery including plows and graders, plus all sorts of equipment for saw and grist mills.
The Cope Stove Foundry, making Norwood’s very own line of cook/wood stove, was in the village from about 1865 until around 1880. The factory was housed in a series of sprawling buildings adjacent to the Plant foundry; in fact, this firm used the same moulding sheds as that of Plants foundry. The Cope Stove factory advertised themselves as ‘Makers of Fine Cook Stoves and High Class Heaters’ and records indicate that they were quite successful with a good reputation for producing a quality product. With the closure of the Norwood Foundry, the proprietors of the stove factory decided not to follow the Plants to Hastings and instead made a move south to the United States.
Some remnants from both of these early industries I am sure still remain tucked away in a village barn or shed or, in the case of the Cope Stove, one such example can still be seen in operation in the Mill at Lang Pioneer village.
Lioness Treats Seniors
The Norwood Lioness Club, like most service organizations during this unusual time, are limited in what services they can provide. Before COVID, many club members would make regular visits to Norwood’s two senior’s homes to simply chat with the residents or assist with crafts and other activities; with the pandemic this was not possible.
However it did not stop them from bringing their senior friends a tasty treat of fresh strawberries and ice cream to help keep their spirits up during the lockdown. Properly socially distanced Lioness members dropped off a good supply of the popular red berries and ice cream to Maple View Retirement Residence during the last full week of June. Pleasant Meadow Manor Nursing Home are to receive their delightful delicacies this week.
Happy retirement
Congratulations and a happy retirement to Norwood’s Mary Ellen Wilford-Sherwin. She has retired after an almost 34 year career with the local board of education, including 22 years at the high school in Campbellford.
In what has become a COVID-19 tradition to celebrate special occasions, her friends and co-workers surprised her with a 20-plus vehicle drive by parade on June 24. Many of the vehicles were appropriately decorated with “Happy Retirement Signs,” balloons and other festive trimmings to mark the milestone.