Media Release - Tay Valley Township Council Recognizes Local Heritage Property—McLaren’s Powder Shed

Tay Valley Township Council Recognizes Local Heritage Property—McLaren’s Powder Shed

Tay Valley Township Council formally announces recognition of the McLaren Powder Shed, in BurgessWood, as a legacy property under the municipality’s Heritage Properties Recognition Program.

Located at 1062 McLaren Road, the McLaren Powder Shed was used to store supplies for apatite and mica mining operations based here, including food and dynamite. While construction date is unknown, it is the only remaining structure associated with the mining industry, which was active along the north shore of Otty Lake, circa 1855‒1923. At one time, the property included a frame bunkhouse with a communal dining room and kitchen, culling shed for trimming mica into commercial sheets, and horse stable. While numbers are imprecise, anywhere from 20 to 50 worked here from spring to fall, extracting minerals from open pits. Other remnants of the mining era along the north shore include abandoned mica pits, slag heaps, and iron tools.

Apatite, a calcium phosphate used for making fertilizer, was mined first. When open pits for this green-coloured mineral were depleted, the miners turned to mica, often extracting the flaky mineral from the same narrow trenches, which could be as deep as 100 feet. The thin sheets of mica were used in a variety of industrial applications, including electrical insulation, isinglass for oven doors, and lanterns.

During the late 19^th century, eastern Ontario was one of the world’s leading suppliers of mica; mining was an important industry for North Burgess Township.

Once extracted, the minerals were transported by scow from Apatite Bay across Otty Lake, and then by wagon or sleigh to Rideau Ferry, where they were then shipped to Montreal, via the Rideau Canal, for markets in Germany or Great Britain.

Several operators leased/owned mineral rights on Lots 4, 5, and 6 of Concession 8 North Burgess during this period, including Watts Brothers (Perth), Roderick Matheson (Perth), P. C. Adams (Montreal), and the Anglo-Canadian Phosphate Company, 1888 (Liverpool and London, England). Operations fell dormant during the depression of the 1890s.

In 1901, Senator Peter McLaren of Perth acquired the property and resumed mining for mica and apatite. McLaren, an Ottawa Valley lumber baron, was one of the area’s wealthiest and most prominent citizens. He gave the North Burgess property and mining operations to his son William upon his marriage to Anna Gemmill. The couple eventually built summer and winter homes on the property, where they lived and oversaw the mining operations; McLaren’s mine ceased operations for good in 1923, due to poor markets.

Character-defining features of the powder shed include:

• Random-rubble masonry construction using local sandstone, built into side of small hill
• “Stepped,” symmetrical roofline, capped with corbelled course of stone, drip edge
• Jack arch over doorway
• Two-course retaining wall on one side
• Central plank door, with iron hinges and latch (not original)
• Interior approx. 15’ x 20’

The McLaren Powder Shed is located on property owned by Mike & Jocelyn Affleck. 

The Heritage Properties Recognition Program acknowledges Tay Valley Township’s long and diverse indigenous and settler history, and the wealth of heritage properties that define our community. Properties eligible to receive recognition under the program include buildings and structures that have historic or cultural significance to the community, as well as landscapes and archaeological sites. This program is commemorative and carries no legal restrictions for properties. For further information, please contact the Municipal Office or visit https://www.tayvalleytwp.ca/HeritagePropertiesProgram/

McLaren Powder Shed, BurgessWood
McLaren Powder Shed, 1062 McLaren Road, BurgessWood, has been recognized by Tay Valley Township Council under the Heritage Properties Recognition Program. Reeve Rob Rainer (second from right) and Committee member Susan Code McDougall (far right) stand in front of the powder shed with property owners, Jocelyn and Mike Affleck. Photo: Susan Code McDougall.