St. Catharines in Niagara Region, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

Morningstar Mill - The Barn

Photographed by Kevin Westell, July 12, 2026

1. Morningstar Mill - The Barn - Marker

Inscription. Wilson Morningstar's barn was located just to the west of the current Friends of Morningstar Mill's blacksmith and carpentry shop. The Morningstars kept two horses, two pigs, chickens and a cow. The horses were used for plowing the vegetable garden next to the saw mill, and for driving "the little four-wheeled buggy that seated two people."

With the help of a neighbour, Wilson would butcher the pigs in the fall. "The hams and shoulders were soaked in brine and then smoked...the livers were ground up for liverwurst...[and we] also made sausage, bacon, Saus (jellied pigs' knuckles) and Schwanz (tails)". Lorna recalls that they "always had plenty of milk" and that her grandmother churned butter and made Schmierkäse (cottage cheese). "When there were too many eggs," Lorna and her grandmother would take a horse and buggy to Sherwood's grocery store on James Street in St. Catharines and trade the eggs and homemade butter for groceries.

Quotes from Memories of Morningstar Mill by Lorna Robson with Paul Hutchinson, Slabtown Press, St. Catharines, 1994

Erected by City of St. Catharines.

Topics. This

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historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Industry & Commerce.

Location. 43° 6.603′ N, 79° 15.864′ W. Marker is in St. Catharines, Ontario, in Niagara Region. It can be reached from Decew Road, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2714 Decew Rd, St Catharines ON L0S 1E6, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe

and in Niagara Canada.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Morningstar Mill - The Mills and Property (here, next to this marker); Morningstar Mill - The Sawmill (here, next to this marker); Morningstar Mill - The Blacksmith and Carpentry Shop (here, next to this marker); Morningstar Mill - Welcome

Morningstar Mill Museum image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Kevin Westell, July 12, 2026

2. Morningstar Mill Museum

Photo faces north and north-west from the road. This marker (centre right) is one of 4 panels on the bridge from the parking lot to Morningstar Mill's flour mill. The dark red building on the left is the sawmill. In between, Beaverdams Creek has its waterfall into a gorge.

(a few steps from this marker); Morningstar Mill - Robert Chappell and Mountain Mills (a few steps from this marker); Morningstar Mill - John DeCou's Falls and Mills (a few steps from this marker); Morningstar Mill - Harvesting Ice (a few steps from this marker); Morningstar Mill - Later History (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in St. Catharines.

More about this marker. Captions:
Left: A detail of a water colour painting of Wilson Morningstar's barn by T.H. Wilkinson, circa 1905.
Right: Wilson Morningstar and his daughter, Jessie, circa 1900

Credits. This page was last revised on July 12, 2026. It was originally submitted on July 12, 2026, by Kevin Westell of St. Catharines, Ontario. This page has been viewed 7 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 12, 2026, by Kevin Westell of St. Catharines, Ontario.