Power Glen, a small community located near the Decew Falls Power Generating Complex, was first settled in the mid 1700s. Lieutenant Duncan Murray of the King's Royal Regiment of New York, to whom the land was first deeded and who started construction on a saw and grist mill died in the 1780s. The land was next acquired by prominent Queenston merchant Robert Hamilton, who finished building the mills in 1787, supplying the garrison and other surrounding landowners with flour.

In 1800 Robert Hamilton sold the two small mills to Jesse Thomas who then passed them to his son Peter. In 1811, Peter built a substantial new grist mill from the pink Grimsby Sandstone later used for many buildings in Niagara. In 1854 the mills were purchased from Peter Thomas by Benjamin Franklin Reynolds. He owned and operated the mills for the next four decades and built a large residence for himself.

From Niagara:

1. Note the QEW exit number by which you enter the highway. The numbers ascend as you get closer to Toronto.

2. Drive along the QEW toward the exit onto the ON-406 S toward Thorold/Welland/Port Colborne

3. After taking the exit drive 3.9 km then take the Regional Road 77 W/Fourth Avenue W exit

4. Merge onto Fourth Ave/Regional Rd 77

5. Turn left onto Louth St/Regional Rd 72 (signs for Regional Road 72/Louth Street)

6. Continue to follow Louth St which then becomes Pelham Rd.

7. After 4.5 km turn left onto Power Glen

Follow the Laura Secord Legacy Trail. The dam is located along the creek, just before the path turns north before the bridge.

The ruins of the Peter Thomas Mill complex are located on the banks of the Twelve Mile Creek, south of Power Glen Rd, and can be accessed by walking southwest along the Laura Secord Legacy Trail / Bruce Trail from the trailhead at the foot of Tailrace Road (incorrectly labelled as Trail Race Road in Google Maps and other local map sources).

Brown, David T. 2012. Power Glen / Reynoldsville / Crown Mills. Niagara Greenbelt Gateway Website. http://brocku.niagaragreenbelt.com/listings/53-historic-a-heritage-sites/771-power-glen-reynoldsville.html

City of St. Catharines, Planning Services Department and the St. Catharines Heritage Committee, in Association with the Power Glen Community. 2010. Power Glen Heritage Conservation District Plan. July 2010. 42 pp. https://www.stcatharines.ca/en/buildin/resources/Power_Glen_Heritage_Plan.pdf

Hughes, Alun. 2008. Shades of Reynoldsville and DeCew Town: A History of Power Glen and Vicinity. Newsletter of the Historical Society of St. Catharines, December 2008.

Simkus, Romas. 2016. Power Glen / Reynoldsville / Crown Mills. http://www.guidetags.com/mindmaps/explore/local-landscape-reports-niagara/1857-simkus-romas-local-landscape-report-power-glen-crown-mills-reynoldsville-st-catharines