A Virtual Walking Tour of Almonte
Ontario Canada
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Almonte is a town founded on textiles. It grew and prospered in an era of economic expansion - an era when Almonte woolens were regarded as second to none throughout the world. The Mississippi echoed with the clatter of machines from the seven woolen mills on its banks, and the town called the "Manchester of Canada" gave employment to hundreds.
From 1870 to 1900 railroads spread across the country, and the newly prosperous demanded fashionable materials such as fine tweeds and worsteds, leading to expanded markets and increased specialization. The mills boomed.By the 1950s, however, the mills had ceased to hum with activity. They encountered difficulties due to a steadily declining market for domestically produced yarn. The town's population dropped from 3,000 to 2,500 as the unemployed sought work elsewhere. Gradually other businesses have come to Almonte and today it is growing healthily once again, but the mills are gone. The town is now more a historic site than a bastion of industry
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- a reminder of Almonte's past and an example for its future. In recent years, however, it has begun to flourish again as a nascent location for the burgeoning high tech industry in nearby Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa. This web site was inspired by my father, John Dunn - a local historian who used to conduct what he called "walking tours" of the downtown section of Almonte for visiting tourists or dignitaries. He would walk them through the streets pointing out buildings and spaces while recounting the histories of these edifices and sometimes stories of the luminaries and everyday people who founded and built the town. He was also a prolific writer concentrating on local subjects such as history, characters and yarns. He died at the age of 87 in December of 2006. My sister Maureen and I have collected his writings and many are to be found at the link below.
The wonderful map pictured above was done by the Underwriters' Survey Bureau in January of 1950 and was accompanied by several larger maps detailing every building and street in the town. These maps were done beginning sometime in the late 1800's as a means to calculate risk of fire for insurance purposes. I have imaged the lower levels maps which will form the basis for this "virtual tour". Within these maps, the visitor will find links identified by a small camera or text image which indicates hypertext links to photographs and text respectively.
This project was a result of a generous grant by the Trillum Foundation. The Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, receives annually $100 million of government funding generated through Ontario's charity casino initiative.
Michael Dunn - July 15/2002
To begin the tour, click on the "Start Tour" link below and follow the directions.
