Formal Recognition Type

Registered Heritage Structure

Heritage Value

The Gale Carding Mill was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2023 due to its aesthetic, historic and cultural value.

Constructed around 1940 to house the Gale family’s carding mill, this two-storey, wooden building employs utilitarian design elements typical of vernacular industrial buildings in the province. Constructed using locally milled lumber, it is plainly finished with no decorative features. 6” x 6” dovetailed beams and posts allow for open interior spaces on both floors. This open floorplan speaks to its use as a carding mill, as does the original placement of numerous window openings that allowed light into working spaces. Three carding machines remain in the building. The exterior is clad in narrow wooden clapboard with minimal trim work. Located at a crossroads and along Granddaddy’s Brook, the mill is a well-known landmark in the Codroy Valley area.

Millville was established in 1897 when Alexander Gale started a wool carding business (later known as A. Gale and Sons) near Granddaddy’s Brook, close to the site of the present-day mill building. Gale built a dam and a water wheel on Granddaddy’s Brook to power the British-made, industrial carding machines he purchased in Nova Scotia. 1,000 pounds of fleece were carded in the first year of operation. An interview with Sir Edward Morris, following his visit to the Codroy Valley in 1908, reported that the carding mill was “run by a man and a little girl, and they turn out ten thousand pounds of wool annually.” In 1938 the original carding mill caught on fire, but newspaper reports say it was spared from being destroyed. The existing mill was constructed circa 1942. While the original carding mill was powered by a water wheel, the new one was operated using a diesel generator and later by connection to the power grid.

An article in The Western Star dated May 8, 1942, reported that the carding mill in Millville, purportedly the first in Newfoundland, was marking 45 years in business. Annual production had now increased to 30,000 pounds a year. The article stated that the mill was being operated by Alexander’s sons Edward and George under the name “Gale Brothers.” The mill’s carding machines operated 24 hours a day at peak demand, employing eight people seasonally, including some women from nearby communities. Another report states that the Gales were producing about 500 pounds of carded wool per day up to a peak of 40,000 pounds annually.

Typically, the mill started operating around the beginning of June and ran until autumn. The Gales offered a truck service for local pickup and delivery, while customers further afield would ship fleeces by train to the railway station in Doyles. Sending fleeces to the mill eliminated the time-consuming process of hand-carding. Customers were directed to wash and pick fleeces before shipping them. Unwashed fleeces would be returned uncarded and unpicked fleeces would be charged an extra fee. The price per pound was 12 cents in 1945 (5 cents extra for unpicked fleeces). Once carded they were returned to owners. People in the area have shared recollections of washing their own fleeces during shearing season and laying them out to dry in pastures or on fences and rose bushes before delivering them to the mill by horse and cart. In a 1956 article in The Western Star, Edward Gale reported that annual production had dropped to 10,000 pounds a year. The article also noted that the Gales were then buying wool for export and that many farmers no longer saw raising sheep as a profitable venture. Demand continued to decline throughout the 1960s as fewer people raised sheep and many sent fleeces away to the Maritimes to be made into finished blankets. The mill closed circa 1970.

The mill is located in what was once an epicenter for sheep farming and textile production in Newfoundland. Immigrants to the region were largely of Scottish, Irish, English and French ancestry. They brought many textile traditions with them, such as cloth manufacturing using looms and “milling” or waulking cloth. “Milling frolics” were held to work woven cloth into a tighter texture. The practice included singing songs in Gaelic, French, or English (depending on the ancestry of the participants) while communally milling the cloth. Wool carded at the mill was turned into yarn, which was dyed and used in various textile products, including knitting, embroidery, and weaving. The resulting products were for home use and for sale. The Western Star article from 1956 reported that 75 women in the Codroy Valley were active weavers, although synthetic yarns were starting to replace homespun yarns.

The fact that the Codroy Valley was once home to three carding mills – representing half of the Island’s industrial wool carding capacity – speaks to the importance of textile traditions in the area. These Codroy Valley mills – Gale Brothers, D.E. Lomond & O’Quinn, and Paul Doyle’s mill – carded wool for the local market and beyond to the Maritimes. Members of the Gale family also opened mills in Stephenville and Curling, making the family perhaps the most prolific industrial wool carders on the Island.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Millville – Gale Carding Mill – FPT NL-5344”

Character Defining Elements

All original features of the building which relate to its age, style, and use including:

-rectangular footprint;
-two storey height;
-low-pitch roof;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-wooden corner boards and other wooden trims;
-original size, style, trim and placement of wooden 2/2 windows;
-original size, style, trim and placement of exterior wooden doors;
-open interior spaces to reflect the original use of the building;
-exterior colours reflective of vernacular commercial buildings;
-dimension, location and orientation of building;
-association with the Gale family and wool carding.

Community

Millville

Municipality

Millville

Civic Address

8 Millville Road

Construction (circa)

1940 - 1940

Builder

Gale family

Style

Rectangular long facade