Lybster Mill (Stone Mill Inn) - St. Catharines, ON - Mussari, Robbie - Local Landscape Report

ABSTRACT

The location of the Lybster Mill is located off Merritt street and Glendale avenue in St Catharine's. It was built in 1860 as a cotton mill, as well as a cotton manufacturer. The person who created it was Gordon Mckay. Some of the significant history was it was built near the Welland Canal, as well it was the perfect time that it was built with the American civil war that happened a year later causing the United States to have a shortage of cotton, so the business was striving. Throughout, its years it had a bunch of different owners, it had two companies in the building at the same time, the Lincoln Paper Mills and Howards Smith Papers Mills. It then changed owners again in 1961 when the Domtar Paper mill bought it. The site has now been changed into Stone mill inn which is a hotel on the site as well as they put the restaurant of Johnny Rocco's in the same place as the hotel. The only humans that have affected the site have been the different owners. The main difference between it all was when they finally changed the building into a hotel and a restaurant. To update my abstract from my field observations, the building had a major effect on the ecosystem when the paper mills were on the location. The building being a paper mill for most of the time that it was open, had a serious effect on the climate.

I. LOCATION INFORMATION

Municipality: St Catharines

Local area name: Lybster Mill

Other identifying names or descriptions Stone Mill Inn/ Johnny Rocco's

Latitude and longitude: 43.1, -79.2

Physical Dimensions

Length: 80 meters

Width: 35 meters

II. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF YOUR LOCAL LANDSCAPE

When looking at the Lybster Mill it is clear that the building is close to the original build in 1951. The exterior design has stayed relatively the same since it was first built with a few exceptions. Since 1951, it had a two-story building added to its right side, as well as the pond that was previously behind the building was drained. The pond had been removed to allow for the construction of the new addition to the previous building. The building was first constructed to be a cotton mill, but in the upcoming years it two new owners decided to make the change into a paper mill. One of the owners was the Lincoln Paper Mills, and the other owner was the Howards Smith Paper Mills. It then changed into a second paper mill which was named Domtar Paper Mill. In 1961, the building turned into its third and final paper mill to date. It is currently sitting as a Hotel and restaurant. In the most recent years, a floral boutique was added on the right side of Lybster mill, finishing its construction in 2018.

III. MAP

Lybster Mill

Map 1: Where Lybster Mill was, which is now the site of The Stone Mill inn, and Johnny Rocco's

IV. ECOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES - a) BIOTA

There have been many environmental factors that have affected the surrounding area of Lybster mill. In the past couple of years, multiple trees and bushes have been taken off of the property due to the development of the new building. The building has not had a great amount of effect directly on animals, but it did change the ecosystem for a handful of them. This change in the ecosystem started when the building was a paper mill. The mill had to use a number of trees and forest areas to supply the production of paper for over 50 years. The outside of the building has little bushes and potted plants that help with the aesthetic of the building but not the ecological aspect. I was not able to go inside and see if the Stone Mill Inn has any plants on the inside of the building because of the Covid–19 pandemic. In the older days of the building, a larger pond was present in the back of the building until they added on the two-story building for the use of the paper mill. The pond was then drained for the new construction which would have happened later in time, but it did destroy a lot of the environment at that point.

In this photo it shows the size of the pond that had to be drained for the construction of the new building. With the pond being destroyed it has the possibility of destroying multiple homes to different types of species. With the size of the pond, it can be assumed that a great number of species of fish, algae and larvae would be housed there. "Before the construction could begin, a pond which occupied the site had to be drained and further seepage from the old Welland canal eliminated" (Mcgill). The site itself has never been an area of high vegetation.

IV. ECOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES - b) GEOMORPHOLOGY

The major physical features of my landscape in the present day are that the building is built with aged stone and has become a mainstream area. This indicating that the mill is now surrounded by commercial landscaping, with sidewalks, roads, and parking lots. There are a little bit of bushes that have been strategically placed for the general appeal of the building, instead of the actual landscape. The main natural way that the landscape was formed was through erosion. Aside from that, the surrounding ecological features were mainly changed through anthropogenic changes. The human-induced changes that have occurred over the years have been the main overall change with the surrounding landscape. With this being said, the man-made changes that occurred could have increased the rate of erosion itself. There are a handful of human activities that can increase the rate of erosion such as cutting down forests. This allows for the exposure of more soil which can affect wind and water erosion. Although, one of the largest changes was that of the pond being removed from the back portion of the building. This was due to the anthropogenic changes and did not include natural water erosion.


IV. ECOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES - c) HYDROGEOLOGY

Around the site, there are multiple different sewer drains that are there to prevent any flooding and pooling of water. There are only three sewer drains on the property to remove the rainwater and melting snow out of the parking lot and the road. The main natural change in the hydrogeology that has happened was the seeping of the Welland Canal. Over time the Welland canal was seeping into the large pond that used to be located behind the building. The canal was used to export and import products for the businesses that were run there. In the early days, when it was a cotton plant, they used the canal mostly to export products to the United States of America who at the time was in a drought of cotton. The mill was the main source of cotton within most of the states along with other plants. As I have previously stated the human way of hydrogeology is through the pond that sat at the back of the plant, which has since been removed.


IV. ECOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES - d) CLIMATE / MICROCLIMATE

With Lybster mill, originally being a cotton plant and changing to multiple paper mills, it has had a great effect on climate change. The mill has considerably contributed to the amount of pollution being put into the air from the year it opened in 1866 till the year it closed in 2002. In the time that it was a cotton plant, the destruction of forests would have prevalent it to build the cotton fields. The cotton fields would have allowed the plant to keep up with the demands of the United States. With this being said the destruction of forests would have created a great deal of carbon dioxide that was released into the air. Within the many years, the plant was open would have caused many issues within the climate surrounding the Niagara region. The microclimate around the St Catharine's area has had a big effect cue to the construction of the plant in the 1860s. It also had more of a microclimate change when they added the new building, drained a pond, and had the land flattened. The machines used to create these changes as well as the building itself add to the air pollution surrounds the area. The building was two-stories that were built for more machines to be put into the mill. The addition of the new machine added more pollution into the air than what it had to begin with. The machine was one hundred and fifty inches, which is a twelve and a half feet long machine. The cotton plant not only contributes to air pollution but water pollution and a great consumption of water. Not only did the cotton plant contribute to climate change but the paper mill had just as much of an impact. The paper mill had many trees cut down for the creation of the paper, it caused a big decrease in the climate. With the trees being cut down it created large gaps in forests and allowed for less oxygen to be released into the atmosphere. Not only did it allow for less oxygen but, it increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment. Due to the trees that have been cut down carbon dioxide will not be able to be recycled into oxygen. The trees will also be burned creating more carbon dioxide being released. While not directly in contact with the mill but through the exporting of the products, the cargo ships added to water and air pollution. Through the movement of the products along the Welland Canal in cargo ships, it caused a difference in the ecosystems of the rivers. Many of the fish that would have been living in the river would have to either changed their location or would be having the struggle to continue to live in that area. This would have been due to the numerous amounts of different ships coming through the river for over a hundred years, creating pollution and dragging different species and pollutants with it.

V. HISTORICAL FEATURES

There are multiple historical features that are present around the Lybster Mill. The most prominent feature of the landscape site is the appearance of the mill itself. The appearance of the mill resembles older European architecture with the stone build. In the Niagara region, there has been a great deal of people coming from Italy. It was a major location where Italians would settle, which would greatly influence the way that certain buildings were designed. With the style of the building, it would greatly influence the owners of Johnny Rocco's which is an Italian restaurant with an Italian heritage. With the main settlement of the Europeans being Italians I believe it not only affected Lybster Mill but a lot of other buildings in the surrounding area. The land that this mill was built on was farming land that was settled on by the "3000 United Empire loyalists" (History of St Catharine's, 2014). They settled on this land in 1790 but, had a set back with the war of 1812. A lot of the Niagara frontier was destroyed with the ongoing war thus the setback. The land had very good soil for farming as well it has a lot of good natural water surrounding the area from all the rivers. With the rivers being so close, the water was in the prime area to irrigate the farmlands, as well as moving the products through the different waterways. This colony had a good way of settling, because of the land and the available movement. The settlement on the land allowed for the movement of products around the settlement and having possible ways of trading to the United States, and the east and west parts of Canada. When Lybster Mill was built in 1866, "it was one of the pioneering cotton mills in the dominion of Canada" (history one). When looking into the history of Lybster Mill, the multiple different plants and mills that were occupying the building would have provided subsequent employment for many people. The surrounding environment would have also been very beneficial to settlers. The pond that was behind the building would have been used for freshwater as well as for a source of food with the different species of fish. The fields that were surrounding the property would have also been beneficial to settlers. The area behind the mill is now it is a strip mall containing a bank, grocery store, an LCBO, and a couple of fast-food restaurants

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VI. CULTURAL FEATURES

For the education and the interpretation of Lybster Mill, there is not a sufficient amount of information that is available online. As well, there seems to be no coverage on the building in any museum, exhibitions or interpretive centers. There is one website that is a part of the brock library, that gives some information and educational purposes towards the building. On the property of Lybster mill, it was the first thing built on the site. The property and building have had a couple of modifications and additions to the site. It had the first modification in the 1920s for the building to have a new machine put into it. In the early 2000's it was converted from a paper mill into a restaurant and hotel which changed the name to the Stone Mill Inn. Allowing the most recent change to be in 2018, of a floral shop. There are multiple areas of this landmark that should be preserved. One area that should be protected would have to be the sign that sits at the front of the building. The sign reads "Lybster Mills 1866." This should be protected in view of the fact that it shows the history of the mill, and how the mill has been improved and changed from the year that it was opened. Another area of the building that should be protected is the architectural aspect. The stones and design of the mill have been preserved well over the years, but they still need to be protected. The stones allow for people to view an architectural aspect of the 18 hundred's that is not replicated in many 21st century buildings. The recreational uses of the building now, include a restaurant and hotel. The hotel has 35 rooms, as well as having a spa and bar. The hotel also has a convenient floral boutique on the side of the building and a 4.3-star restaurant. There are many ways that people can use the Lybster mill for recreational use because of the many amenities that are now available within the hotel and the restaurant. The Stone Mill inn also paid tribute to the Lybster mill plant by keeping mill within the name of it, as well as putting up a look-alike water tower reading "Stone Mill inn". With this being done it shows how the owners respect the history of the Lybster Mill.

VII. LAND TENURE

The land is owned by the city of St Catharine's, but the building and the buildings that are beside it have different owners. The main building is owned by two different people, it is owned by Stone Mill Inn, and the owners of Johnny Rocco's, with different owners having control of the new part of the renovations. Public access is allowed throughout the site but with the COVID -19 pandemic, the hotel is only allowing paying guests inside. Johnny Rocco's is doing the same thing, allowing a certain number of paying guests and customers to come to eat, with strict regulations put in place. Over the years the ownership of the land has changed how the landscape looks. They have added onto the site and renovated the inside of the building. They have taken the old paper mill look and transformed it into an expensive-looking hotel, with rooms that allow people to have a nice, comfortable stay. They have thirty-five rooms that are available to be used throughout any time of the year. As well they had the jurisdiction to plan out the new addition to the building for the floral boutique. By the new end of the building, there has been an extensive way of zoning so that they did not harm the architectural design of the original building. They did not want to hurt the outside of the building as they wanted to keep the authentic design and aesthetic of the building when it was first built. The addition has changed the overall appearance of the building but did not harm the architectural design of the original. The addition has similar qualities of the old building but is not the exact same.

VIII. CONNECTIVITY AND CONTEXT

The major uses of the land before were primarily for farming. The surrounding area of this mill was filled with fields made for farming and agriculture. There was another mill that was just around the corner it is now the Keg, but it is formally known as the Independent Rubber Company, as well as the Merrittion Cotton Mills. The main use of the land before these two mills was built was farming. Eventually, the majority of the farming lands were changed into mills and different buildings. It was like this because of the naturally good soil as well as the rivers and the Welland Canal nearby. Nowadays, these two mills are now both restaurants which were two of the first cotton mills in Canada. Which they have now been changed into multiple different shopping centers. With the industrialization of St Catharine's, most of the land around this site turned from farmland to housing and strip malls to make it a more popular city.

IX. CONTACT INFORMATION

Stone Mill Inn

Address: 271 Merrit Street, St Catharine's, ON L2T 1K1

Phone: (905) 680-6455

Email: reservations@stonemillinn.ca

Johnny Rocco's Italian Grill Address: 271 Merrit Street, St Catharine's, ON L2T 1K1

Phone: (905) 680-9300

Order: johnnyroccos.com

Hours of Operation

Monday 11 am to 11 pm

Tuesday 11 am to 11 pm

Wednesday 11 am to 11 pm

Thursday 11 am to 11 pm

Friday 11 am to 11 pm

Saturday 11 am to 11 pm

Sunday 11 am to 11 pm

X. LITERATURE CITED

"Lybster Mill." Niagara Greenbelt Gateway Website, brocku.niagaragreenbelt.com/listings/69mills/682-lybster-mill.html.

MERRITTON HISTORY, www.merritton.com/2010/08/merritton-history-part-1....

Annual report 1951 Howard Smith paper mills limited and subsidiary companies. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/hrcorpreports/pd...

History of the City. (2014). Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://www.stcatharines.ca/en/governin/HistoryOfT...

[Photograph]. (n.d.). https://mapio.net/pic/p-11777890/

Mussari.R copy rights

Brock University

About the author

This Local Landscape Report was prepared by Robbie Mussari for the Brock University course TMGT 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems on November 12, 2020

All copyrights for cited material rest with the original copyright owners.


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