Pre-1862 The upper dam was built prior to 1862 by a squatter named J. Wrenchman. He built a dam and mill.
1862 Wrenchman sold out to John and Thomas Gregory, who rebuilt the dam and from the power of the dam operated a saw mill on the east side of the river and a grist mill on the west side of the river.
1866 The grist mill on the east side of the river was destroyed by fire. John bought out his brother’s share in the mill and dam while he was rebuilding the grist mill.
1878 The waterworks system for Wingham, complete with hydrants was installed by Waterous Engine Works Co. of Brantford at a cost of $10,000. The town paid for the installation.
1879 John Gregory sold the dam and mills to Emmanuel Rockey & Sons. Rockey later sold it to Johnston & Hamilton. Johnston & Hamilton sold it to A.J. Turner
1885 The white brick pumphouse at the east end of the upper dam was built at a cost of $1100 by the town of Wingham. It worked by: -water from the pond (in front of the dam) was carried in the flume that ran under the road at the east end of the rail bridge to operate the waterwheel in the lower part of the pumphouse. This generated power to pump river water into a main which took a shortened route to Josephine Street and south to various hydrants on main street. A coal stove in the wheelhouse kept the equipment from freezing.
1888 A.J. Turner sold the dam and mills to Hutton & Carr, who also owned the lower dam. At this time the grist mill had 7 runs of stones in operation. When the Lower Town mill burnt in 1888, Hutton & Carr did not replace it. They put in a double set of roller in the upper dam grist mill.
1891 In April 1891, the system was tested. With 8.5 feet of water flume, 140 lbs. of pressure was available to the hydrants. As a result of the test, it was decided that a larger
main was needed to run the pumphouse east on Water Street to Josephine Street, then south to the hydrant at the Dinsley House. The main was changed from a 6” to an 8” pipe. At the time the main cut through the Button & Fessant property so the town changed it so that it remained on town property.
1892 J.A. Cline & Co. rerouted the main and changed its size from 6” to 8” for $1100. The pipe that was removed was used to extend the main east on Patrick Street.
1894 Hutton sold his shares of the dam and grist to Carr – it became Carr & Sons, then Carr & Brothers.
1895 Carrs put in a steam engine to run the mill when the water was too low to power the grist mill.
1896 Periodically the fire department tested the hydrants. In a test in 1896, firemen were able to shoot 2 streams of water from one hydrant 20 feet higher than the McDonald Block.
1897 A hydrant was put in at Patrick and Frances Street. When it was tested by running a hose from it to the school, it threw water as high as the top of the public school building.
The editor of the Wingham Times visited the wheelhouse in 1897 and described as with plants and pictures on the walls and a cheery fire burning in the stove. The fire chief, T. Manuel, turned on the power and the great wheels turned without jar or noise and in only 54 seconds the water pressure was up to 140 lbs.
1899 The upper dam washed out – it was the 3rd time in 20 years that the dam washed out. At the time the town was using the dam’s water power to pump water for fire protection. The town of Wingham bought the water rights from the Carrs for $4000. Then they rented the mill the mill owners water power for $500 per year for the grist mill, less $100 for tending the dam.
Walter Green and his men built a new dam for $3500. System worked well, except that there was no water pressure for the hydrant until someone went to the wheelhouse and started the pumps. Another complaint was it took too long to get air out of the pipes.
Howson, Harvey & Brocklebank bought the mill from Carrs. At the time, it was bagging 220 bags of flour a day.
1905-06 A steel standpipe was erected on land bought from John Armour on top of John Street. Hunter Bridge and Boiler Co. erected the standpipe for $5925. It ensured good pressure at the hydrants and the ability to extend the water mains and add more hydrants. Note: this water on pressure was not for domestic use, only hydrants.
Walter Green replaced the old wooden flume with a concrete flume that ran under the road to the pumphouse. It was installed with a large manhole to allow workmen easy access when working on the waterwheel.
New water mains were connected to provide more fire hydrants around Wingham. Some people applied to make connections to the mains where possible so they could install bathrooms, with their own septic tanks.
1912 W.H. Davidson drilled a 6” test well on Water Street, then another at 10”. He struck water at 250 feet. The two wells produced 100,000 gallons of water a day. A concrete reservoir was built on Water Street to hold the overflow water from the wells. From there the water was pumped into the standpipe on John Street using water power. A new water wheel was installed and the pumps rebuilt.
1912 During the spring flood of 1912, the water was so high that the water wheel could not be used to pump water, the towns water supply for the hydrants were cut off.
1913 Domestic water and sewers were finally available to some Wingham homes. It was gravity system that did not serve everyone at first. Gradually more mains and sewers were built and connected but it was well into the 30s until private wells and outhouses went out of use.
1917 Howson bought Brocklebank’s share of the mill.
1920 In July 1920, a bylaw was passed to put waterworks under the control of the Public Utilities Commission.
1921 The dam washed out. Another new dam was built by the town of Wingham (the one that is in place today). The town borrowed $7500 to pay for the new dam and water privilege.
1948 A spring flood damaged the dam and the inlet flume to the pump house. The flood washed out the bank of the pond and damaged the flood gates. One of the town reservoirs was undermined and cracked. The artesian well that flowed into the reservoir was lost.
Since 1948, all water used in Wingham has been pumped electrically. Never again was town water pumped by water power because the inlet to the flume was blocked when the east bank of the upper pond was replaced.
1950 Howson Mill was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. It was never rebuilt.
1948-2008 The spillway and control gates erected by Mowbray Construction at the north end of the Howson dam were built to prevent the type of flooding that happened in 1948. 1955-1965 Howson Dam pond was dredged for the use of boaters and water skiers. A swimming area was developed near the Howson Dam and beach sand brought in for a beach area. A change house was built for the convenience of swimmers (it is still there today).
Note: The Lower Dam supplied the electrical power for Wingham, but by mid WWI, it was determined that the dam was not able to supply the electricity needed to supply the light and power needs of Wingham residencies and industry.
The town negotiated with Hydro and on Dec.21, 1920 the town switched over to Hydro power.