Watson's Mill
It is the only working museum in the Ottawa area and one of the very few operating industrial grist mills in North America.
The legend is that Ann Currier, wife of Joseph, haunts the mill, following her death in a tragic accident there in 1861.
Dickinson was also mayor of Ottawa from 1864 to 1866, just prior to Confederation, and lived in what is now the South African Embassy.
Watson, his wife Anna and his six children Ron, Bill, Jack, Jim, Bob and Mary all lived in the Dickinson House as well.
Spratt and Watson gradually transformed the Mill into a feed and seed operation to keep up with the changing times and to accommodate the local dairy and livestock farmers.
Born in 1841, Ann was the daughter of a successful hotel owner and grew up along with seven siblings, in the village of Caldwell, New York.
On Monday, March 11, 1861, 6 weeks into the marriage, coinciding with the return from Joseph and Ann's honeymoon, Currier and Dickinson held a small party to celebrate their first successful year of operation.
Ann's crinoline and dress became caught in one of the turbine shafts on the second floor of the Mill and she was flung against a pillar and killed instantly.
Following this tragedy, Joseph immediately lost all interest in the Mill and eventually sold his shares to his partner Dickinson.
Since that time, there have been numerous unconfirmed sightings of Ann's ghost in Watson's Mill, causing the site to be often considered among Ottawa's haunted buildings.
The Ottawa Citizen newspaper described Watson's Mill as "a castle in the air" on its opening day.
The stones at Watson's Mill are made from pieces of very hard quartz called buhrstone.
Since the top stone is so heavy, and spins quickly, a significant amount of heat is generated, which in turn warms the grist.
Whereas the particular dress of the millstones limits what substance can be ground, the feed grinder was capable of grinding a variety of grains and seeds.
Today the feed grinder is used to grind corn, which the mill sells as duck chow.
Located on the opposite bank of the river, Moss Kent Dickinson and Joseph Currier built their first sawmill using their newly acquired waterpower rights to the dam.
Although all physical evidence of the sawmill is now gone, it played a vital role in the creation of Manotick by providing lumber for the manufacture of woodwork for wagons, carriages, sleighs, wheels, furniture and building construction.
This mill was not only a place where farmers could have their wool carded and dressed, but also where custom cloth could be ordered.
Although useful to farming families, the carding mill was never replaced, scratched out of Dickinson's records by Moss Kent himself.
When power was needed, a string was pulled, which rang a bell in the gristmill, notifying the miller to start the sixth turbine.
The bung factory was dismantled in 1926 and moved to become part of a residence on Long Island in Manotick.
On July 1, 1963, the National Capital Commission (NCC) entered into a lease agreement with Harry Watson to open the Mill as a heritage attraction.
Today, it continues to run as a functioning industrial museum and community social centre.
Watson's Mill is situated on the banks of the Rideau River, in the village of Manotick, Ontario.
It is built next to the control dam on the backchannel as the Rideau River splits around Long Island.
