Words by William Ennis
Delta is a small town 60 km northeast of Kingston. It would probably be a ghost town if it were not for the dedicated groups of volunteers who have contributed many, many hours to create a lively, little historic village.
The location of the village is ideally situated between Upper and Lower Beverley Lakes. In the winter of 1794, a group of United Empire Loyalists escaped from Vermont to remain under the Crown in Canada. Abel Stevens obtained a grant for the land around the rapids, put up a dam, and by 1796 he was sawing lumber on his new sawmill, and later he ground grain using his new grist mill, all of this run by a simple, wooden, water wheel.
William Ennis
Old Stone Mill
The dam raised the level of water to create a millpond with enough water to run the waterwheel and in doing so it turned what used to be two lakes, into one, Upper Beverley Lake.
This village is located in a rural area of Eastern Ontario, and the people are well served with a host of services that include a bank, liquor store, grocery store, pharmacy, post office, and a medical clinic.
If you visit in spring, around the beginning of April, and have a hankering for maple syrup, take your sweet teeth to Delta for the Delta Maple Syrup Festival. Your first stop should be at the Fair Hall for a filling breakfast of pancakes flooded with local syrup, with some tasty sausages on the side. If you wish, go upstairs and stop at the craft sale tables, and before leaving purchase a good supply of maple syrup. For some variety, hop on the wagon and hitch a ride down to Lower Beverley Lake Park where you can walk the trails.
William Ennis
Anna Greenhorn inspects Buhr Mill stone
In July, you can enjoy the Delta Fair. Events include horse shows, tractor pulls, and buffalo chip bingo, (they are modernized now and are using cow chips). Originating in 1830, this has to be one of Ontario's oldest fairs. Children will enjoy the small midway and Ferris wheels are always in style. There will be an evening of Bluegrass music, monster trucks bouncing on cars, and skilled workers using chainsaws to carve wood into fantastic figures.
Just before Thanksgiving, in October, Delta hosts a Harvest festival featuring local produce, home crafts, and hot apple cider.
The lead-up to Christmas starts early, on the five Saturdays prior, when you can see thousands of Christmas lights in the trees of Lower Beverley Lake Park. The admission fee covers most of your fun for the evening. Depending on the event, food may be an extra cost. You can board a wagon at the Fair Grounds for an old-fashioned wagon ride. The venue is varied from evening to evening and in the past, they have offered beef stew and biscuits, lasagne, turkey supper, and shepherd's pie.
William Ennis
Delta beach at Lower Beverley Lake Park
Delta has several old stone buildings with attractive designs. You might like to do the Heritage Tour and walk along the sidewalks of the village, enjoying, at a leisurely pace, views of the 1811 Anglican Church and a variety of large stone private homes.
Camping is available at Lower Beverley Lake Township Park. They have 235 campsites and 11 cottages. For those lucky at fishing, there is also a fish cleaning station. Most of the campground is fitted around huge trees that provide some nice summer shady sites. Kids will welcome the sandy beach and great swimming. Even the playground is lighted for safety in the evenings. For the older 'kids' there are horseshoe pits and mini-golf. The Lower Beverley Park Nature walking trail has many marked stops around the loops and not only provides a little exercise but shows off the local flora. This is a busy community campground that has musical shows, craft sales, organized activities for the kids, raffles, and bingos. If you don't feel like cooking, visit the Canteen for light eats ranging from hamburgers to fish and chips.
William Ennis
Water wheel
A highlight of the location is the Old Stone Mill, now a National Historic Site of Canada, and dating back to 1810. This beautiful mill was saved from the ravages of weather and time by citizens interested in creating a museum to the past. In 1963, the owner passed the mill into the loving hands of what became the Delta Mill Society. The mill represents one of the remaining automatic grist mills in Ontario.
The design allowed the grain to pass through the mill with very little human help. When you see the specialized ways in which they moved the ground-up grain, you will marvel at the skill of the designer.
William Ennis
Lower Beverley Lake Park
The mill produced fine quality flour, as well as coarser ground animal feed and functioned until 1948. Some upgrades made during the years of operation were replaced with original equipment. In 2008, they installed a waterwheel to replace a turbine, and in 2010 old-fashioned millstones returned. Enjoy a free walking tour of the four-storey Georgian style stone mill. You can do the tour on your own, getting your information from the interpretive boards, or go with a knowledgeable summer student. The mill operates only on certain scheduled days. It's amazing how quietly the waterwheel starts things turning, but if you are standing inside the building, by the machinery, you will hear, or feel, the rumble of the 200-year-old millstones coming together to do the grinding. On the tour, you follow the operation from pouring in the wheat through the sorting and filtering operations.
Delta is a small village, and thanks to its residents and volunteers it's alive and vibrant. From spring to fall, you will find a trip there very enjoyable.
For Information:
The campground: https://www.beverleylakepark.com/
What to do in Delta: https://www.beverleylakepark.com/attractions
About building the 1810 Stone Mill: http://www.deltamill.org/documents/building-the-1810-mill-web.pdf