By 1855, John Baker had acquired total ownership of Lot 8, Concession 5, East Flamborough Township from his brothers. The property included approximately 100 acres, a sawmill and a hotel serving the popular stage coach run from Hamilton to Milton via the Snake Road.

Turning now to look at the Assessment or Tax Rolls (on microfilm in the Local History and Archives section of the Hamilton Central Library), changes in the value of the Baker property reflect the changes that began to occur under John’s ownership. Within the decade, the Baker home underwent several changes, including the addition of a second storey and a rear addition. Many houses on well-travelled roads were being altered to become inns or taverns after this class of buildings was dropped from the Assessment Rolls, becoming a form of tax-free housing. Since travel on the Hamilton-Milton stage coach run was often slow and difficult along the Centre Road that was little more than a muddy track, the location of the hotel, named The Rising Sun, near the bridge over the Grindstone Creek was a natural stop for travellers seeking accommodation, a change of horses or the service of a blacksmith whose shop was located on the property.

During the next decade, John increased the size and number of mills that his father had owned, by using both steam and water power – producing over 1,000,000 ft. of board a year. Family stories tell this lumber was transported by teamsters through Waterdown to Brown’s Wharf for shipment to points on the Great Lakes by his own schooner, The Dauntless.

By the 1860s, a small community had grown up around the hotel and John was listed in the Wentworth County Directories as the Bakersville innkeeper, the postmaster and the tollgate keeper on Centre Road between the 5th and 6th Concessions. The family would retain the ownership of most of their property during his lifetime, but an entry in the Abstract Index Books during the 1860s records one change: the family’s milling operations had begun to decline in value as much of the timber in the area had been cleared by settlers and the volume and power of the creek had diminished. In 1868, John Baker sold the Bakersville sawmill complex to Messrs. J. Burns & Son, ending almost 40 years of the family’s involvement  in an industry that had been so necessary in the opening up of the township.

Sylvia Wray is the former archivist with the Flamborough Archives. She can be reached through the Archives at archives@flamboroughhistory.com.

This article was originally published in the Flamborough Review, 13 November 2014.