Hello From Ottawa: The Wakefield Mill Inn & Spa

To experience the charms of the quaint village of Wakefield, I combined my unique transportation experience on the Hull-Chelsea Wakefield Steam Train with a lunch experience at the historic Wakefield Mill Inn and Spa. Ali, the Mills maitre d, came to pick up a number of passengers from the steam train, all of whomwere going to spend an entire weekend in this famous country retreat. I on the other hand had barely an hour and a half to acquaint myself with one of the most historically significant places in Wakefield.

The Inns origins date back all the way to 1838 when a Scottish immigrant by the name of William Fairbairn decided to construct a stone mill in order to mill local grains for farm families in the Gatineau and LaPche river valleys. After the sale of the mill to James MacLaren, the mill was expanded to include a saw mill, woolen mill and general store.

The whole complex was ravaged by fire in 1910 and a flour mill was rebuilt, but the woolen mill stopped operating. The flour mill continued until 1939 when larger mechanized flour mills started displacing smaller-scale local mills. It was converted into a grist mill to produce livestock feed for local...