Circa 1890
The front of the Grist (Flour) Mill, taken from the road (looking East)
The rear of the of the building (looking West)
Very little is known about the history and operations of this mill. Only these two photos, a surveyor’s chart from the late 1800’s, scant records about the owner, and remnants of the underwater foundation (dive site) are what we have to work with.
John Gray Goodall (JG) Snetsinger was born in the village of Moulinette in 1833. He owned the village’s general store, then expanded and added a lumber yard to it. The Grist Mill was his next venture and was in operation by 1870. JG then stepped into the political scene and was active in the 1st Laurier Government.
Moulinette was a thriving area with a busy shipping canal and wharf, a Grand Trunk Railroad terminal and the only bridge linking the large farming community of Sheek Island. The fast-flowing St. Lawrence River was a mere 600’ across the crib bridge plus the width of the canal which boasted a limestone tunnel (culvert) under it to access the mainland.
Survey chart, circa 1860. The Snetsinger Mill is circled in yellow
Unfortunately, this infrastructure and the mill were cursed with a flaw that would see history repeat itself a half century later. In the year 1901, the Mille Roches Hydro-Electric Power House was built just a few miles east of Moulinette, along with a modern steel swing bridge over the expanded shipping canal. The low-lying Snetsinger Mill, the crib bridge and tunnel were inundated as the dam was built to retain and funnel the river water through the electricity producing turbines of the Power House. Sheek Island also lost some of its shoreline as well as a woolen mill, a few dwellings and several barns.
The shipping canal remained intact and in use until the next expansion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 1950’s and the eventual relocation onto the deeper U.S. side of the river system. Under this same expansion, Moulinette and nine other communities were also displaced and inundated for the Hydro Electric Power Plant and Dams in Cornwall. Ironically, this project also flooded the now 60-year-old Mille Roches Power House (another popular dive site) and swing bridge.
The Grist Mill dive site is not a very well known area due to its depth, strong currents, low visibility and distance from shore. This is considered an advanced dive and should be done with a scooter/dive propulsion vehicle (DPV). The best entry point is from Lakeview Park Beach, 2 km. east of Long Sault.
Google Maps, Lakeview Park Beach is circled in yellow, note that this Park has no signage identifying the entrance.
From the parking lot, a short walk to the beachfront has a shallow and easy access entry. You may choose the longer walk to the southern point of the park which will give you a shorter surface swim to avoid the seemingly endless amount of weed gardens. (May vary depending on the time of the season and water levels). Regardless of your entry point, keep a southerly heading until you reach the clear flat pavement of submerged King’s Highway #2 in 15-17’ depth, it runs east-west. You may choose to take a break and clear excess weeds from your prop at this time as there is a bit more “salad” to chop through south of the road, until you reach the clear area at 20’ deep.
From the submerged road there are two options to reach the guide rope (laid in a South-West direction) leading to the Mill.
1) From Hwy #2, head South past the weeded area (approx 20’ deep) and veer South West, you will eventually cross the guide rope.
or
2) From Highway #2, keep going south until you reach the embankment wall of the canal. (30-38’ deep). Turn west into the current and follow its edge until you reach the guide rope crossing to the S-W. This route is less direct but offers more sites on the way. You may encounter large tree stumps/felled trunks, building foundations and debris etc. Note the current is stronger and you may have to kick up into a higher gear.
Navionics Marine App, showing the river’s bottom relief. The Blue Line denotes the Guide Rope, the Yellow “X” & lines are the 2 different entry points from Lakeview Park, and the broken Green line the submerged Old Hwy #2. The upper dive site flag is the Tunnel entrance, middle site is the Grist Mill, and the lower dive site is the Sheek Island Bridge
Once the rope drops into the canal bottom (max 50’), it will then rise up its south wall (the tow path). A short run over the top will then lower down leading directly to the north-east corner of the Mill’s foundation. The rope goes into a 6’ square opening in the foundation and into the walled interior. Do not follow it in, rather go up and over the wall. Once inside, these barriers offer a nice break from the current. Be mindful not to stir up the bottom as it clouds up easily.
The cut stone foundation of the Mill measures 40’ wide x 60’ long x 12’ high, and is 5’ thick at the base. The buildings original multi-level wooden structure clad with tin sheet panels must have been de-constructed and cleared of its contents and machinery prior to the 1901 inundation. (Mille Roches Power House)
Inside the perimeter are scattered stone blocks, an iron mechanical valve stem and the housing for the water turbine. The south and east walls have large square openings through them, do not penetrate any of these in order to maintain the structure’s integrity. The north and west walls have an earth and rock filled face approximately 20’ away from the building. Large timbers protrude out near the top edge of the rock wall as if it were once attached and part of the building’s upper floor.
The top side of the west mound was likely the road leading to the Sheek Island Bridge, where several boulder filled wooden cribs still remain to the south. The same road heading north towards the canal leads to the cut stone constructed entrance of the culvert/tunnel, which over the past 124 years has completely filled-in and has no access. The opposite side of the canal (north side) has the same tunnel entrance structure, which also has filled-in with no access.
Back to the Grist Mill site, the surrounding inner and outer perimeter of the foundation walls have many fallen stone blocks at the base, indicating that it once stood higher than what now remains. Moving to the old river bottom (approx. 70’ deep) off the south wall are 17 parallel wood beams (approx. 2’ x 2’) extending outwards to form what appears to be a deck platform. The top side of these are lined with protruding steel bolt like spikes from 3” to 12” long, which can easily snag any loose appendages, be mindful.
Prepare yourself accordingly for a 20-minute swim north-east, as you head back to the exit point. Following the rope back is the quickest and safest return or you can choose to drift west for 5-10 minutes then head north to exit at Lakeview Park.
Topography chart from 1957 (pre-flooding) showing the Village of Moulinette. The grist Mill and its surrounding sites were submerged in 1901 when the Mille Roches Power House was constructed and created Bergen lake as a head pond. Note the Dark Blue line is the guide rope leading to the Snetsinger Grist Mill, Light Blue outline is present day water level and the Green outline is present day land.
Grist Mill stone wall and a few of its openings
Mechanical valve and stem, inside the walls
Presumed water turbine housing, approximately 8’ diameter
-Make sure your Scooter/DPV is powerful enough and fully charged for this dive.
Lost Villages Divers
Marc Pilon, Jason Xenakis, Andrew Emard, & Sam Hamed
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