Key Number:	HS 15103
Site Name:	Shaw Woolen Mill
Other Names:	Midnapore Woolen Mill Cairn (Monument)
Site Type:	0714 - Industrial/Manufacturing - Textile and Leather: Weaving Facility 1315 - Governmental: Monument, Cairn or Statue

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			23	1	5

Address:	N/A
Number:	N/A
Street:	N/A
Avenue:	N/A
Other:
Town:	Calgary
Near Town:	Calgary

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:
Storeys:
Foundation:
Superstructure:
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:
Exterior:	N/A
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Approx. 1 mile NW of Midnapore, now a part of Calgary.
Condition:	The foundations of the residence are still visible. The Woolen Mills location is known but apparently no surface evidence is showing.
Alterations:	N/A

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Mill construction begun Mill burned down (approx. date)	1889/01/01 1923/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Farmland / Gravel Pit Woollen Mill / Homestead Alberta Heritage Monument	1889/01/01 1976/06/15
Owner:	Owner Date:
Samuel Shaw Buchan and Murray Samuel Shaw Province of Alberta	1889/01/01 1905/01/01 1908/01/01 1963/03/01

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	First Woolen Mill in Western Canada. In 1882 Samuel Shaw was a businessman (chemist) in the community of Kent England. In the spring of 1883 he, his wife and eight children disembarked, at the end of the Canadian Pacific rails in Swift Current. Originally the Shaws had intended to begin a woolen mill in the Peace River country but when they saw the remains of the cattle that had died during the winter of 1883 near Calgary they decided against going further north. During the summer of 1883 they built a sod shack and broke the ground a short distance from Midnapore. In the following years they established the woolen mill, ran a post office and pursued other business ventures. The father, Samuel Shaw died in 1919 at the age of 76. Helen Shaw, the mother lived until 1941 at that time she was 94. Both pioneers are buried in St. Paul's Churchyard, Midnapore. * * * When the Samuel Shaw family emigrated from England in 1883, their impressive list of material asssets included a complete line of machinery for a woollen mill. Prior to leaving England some members of the family spent time in a woollen mill learning the technique of weaving. In 1889, the building of the woollen mill was commenced at Midnapore, on the south side of Fish Creek. The machinery was brought from Winnipeg where it had been stored and assembled with the help of William Dyson, an expert from Montreal. In 1890 it started operating: the first woollen mill in Western Canada. Mrs. Shaw opened a tailor shop in Calgary, located on Stephen Avenue (8th Avenue) between 1st and 2nd Streets West on the north side. The shop specialized in suits made from cloth of Shaw's own weaving. Mrs. Shaw was an excellent seamstress and did much of the sewing for her own family. The material woven at the mill was of very durable quality and clothing made from it was reputed to last indefinitely. Many of the man's suits turned out by the Shaw mill were grey in color, and extremely warm. The Shaw family operated the mill for 15 years until 1905. After three years, the Shaws respossesed the mill from Buchan and Murray, the new unsuccessful owners. It did not operate again as a mill and in 1923 or 1924 the building burned. The site is now an Alberta Heritage Monument. * * * Alberta News Release June 15, 1976 The Hon. Horst A. Schmid announced another step forward in Alberta Culture's program to preserve and protect locations of historical importance to Alberta. Today by Order-in-Council, the government formally designated seventeen features of historical significance as Provincial Historic Sites. ... * Shaw Woolen Mill - northest of Midnapore, on Fish Creek. ...

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	1976/06/15

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0207