Sawmill

This area was once covered in a thick growth of trees including black walnut, maple, beech, elm, and white oak. To use these natural resources, Josiah Henson and his sons used donations from benefactors in Boston to build a sawmill along the Sydenham River in Dawn for the British American Institute (B.A.I.). As land was cleared for farming and other purposes, trees were taken to the sawmill and sawn into boards. The lumber was used for construction and sold in Detroit, Boston, and other urban centres to raise funds for the B.A.I., and black walnut lumber became one of the settlement’s major exports. The B.A.I. also operated other industries near the sawmill, including a gristmill, blacksmith shop, rope factory, and brickyard. In 1851, on Josiah Henson’s first trip to England, he transported and displayed four 7" by 4" polished black walnut boards at the World’s Fair in London in hopes of developing a British market for lumber produced at the Dawn settlement, and he was awarded a bronze medal for the exhibit.

Ontario · Canada