Shadow Lake

Shadow Lake. . These are three of four vents which were located on the roof of the building located across the street. The vents were installed in 1918 when the building was purchased by Penman's Limited of Paris, Ontario, as a branch factory which produced worsted yarn., To reduce the heat and dust created by the machines on the ground level, four square holes were spaced the length of the ceiling to allow wooden ducts in the second storey to carry up warm air laden with dust and lint and be drawn out through the vents on the roof. The system is known as Dilution Ventilation. The shingled roof was not flat but sloped to a three-foot peak which made a cupola-like mounting for the vents. The centre pole allowed the vents to swivel in the wind, like a weather vane and prevent downdrafts into the building., All early textile mills had large windows, doors and cracks to allow air inside. This system aided greatly in improving the indoor air quality for workers. As the particles were dispersed into the outside air it might have been how Penman's came to be known locally as 'the fluff factory"., This 250 by 80 foot building, located at the corner of Alice and St. James streets, was built in 1908 to 1909 for The Dominion Telephone Manufacturing Company Limited. In Canada, this company controlled all patents of the Swedish American Telephone Company of Chicago, U.S.A., Even with a loan and tax exemptions from the Corporation of the Village of Waterford, the Dominion Telephone Company failed as a business and the Village of Waterford was forced to foreclose and sell its building and assets in October 1912. It's unclear to whom it was sold but its merchandise continued to ship for two more years., The building was vacant and then used as an armoury in 1916 during the First World War. It was sold to Penman's Ltd. in 1917 with tax exemptions from the Town of Waterford., The Waterford worsted yarn mill of Penman's Ltd. ran from 1918 until October 30, 1965, when it was closed after reportedly losing money for years. The building was then sold to Toronto Mill Stock which made yarns for another ten years. It was sold to George Endress Company of Waterford in 1975 where it continued to spin blanket and sock yarns until at least 1978 and probably longer., It's unclear if the building changed hands or the company was renamed Waterford Spinning Mill, but it continued on as that until it closed in early 1986. On July 4, 1986, Designer Classic Carpet Manufacturer Ltd. based in Waterloo, Ontario, took over the building. It produced wool yarn for custom-made carpets until closing in November 1988., The building was bought in 1990 by Waterford resident, Claire Hayes who developed it into an antique market. It took a few years to develop since he started small and gradually added more antique store vendors. It has continued to evolve with various owners of antique stores., In 2018 the current owner, Murray Gibbons, replaced the original roof on the building with a new steel roof and at that time the vents were removed. In 2019, along with Maria DaSilva-Jordan who recognized the vents' significance, Mike Kopach of Waterford volunteered his time to clean and install them on this site., Initial research and writing was done by Carol Goff, with special thanks to James Christison, curator of Waterford Heritage and Agricultural Museum, for access to its archives and photographic images. Print sources: Brantford Expositor, Nanticoke Times, Simcoe Reformer, Waterford Star., Project coordinator was Andy Kooistra. Other contributors to research, funds, labour and materials are: Terry Brown, Rick Chuli, Bill Coliababa, Claire Hayes, Dave Lapierre, Karen Lindsay, Katherine McCurdy-Lapierre, Mike McDonnell, Riddoch Lumber, Visser Automotive, Waterford Heritage Trail: Shadow Lake Group, and Waterford and Towhsend Historical Society. ,