Wile Carding Mill Museum
242 Victoria Road B4V 2P1 Bridgewater, NS, Canada

In 1988, DesBrisay Museum staff visited the former site of Kelly Monumental Works and discovered only remnants of the Sebastapol industry. The remaining fragments were collected and are now part of the DesBrisay Museum collection, and are currently on display at the museum as part of WCM Exhibit "Old Pleasant River Road", detailing history of the area once known as Sebastopol. Artifact Photo courtesy of DesBrisay Museum.

George J. Kelly was born 27 October 1863 in Halifax, N.S.and at the age of 16, he apprenticed with carving monuments. By 1892, George Kelly had moved his family to Bridgewater and set up the Kelly Monumental Works business on Victoria Road near the Brookside Cemetery. This building was lost to in the 1899 fire and the business was relocated in 1903 when George J. Kelly bought the Abner Wile Gristmill site. His son George W.Kelly took over around 1933 and operated the company until 1965.Photos are artifacts in the DesBrisay Museum Collection, courtesy of DesBrisay Museum.

PHOTO #2 IS THE WILE CARDING MILL! "From 1860 to 1968, this water-powered mill lightened the workload for Nova Scotian farm families by carding a week’s worth o...f wool in one hour!" Learn more about the Wile Carding Mill at https://cardingmill.novascotia.ca/. The Wile Carding Mill is located at 242 Victoria Road, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. The Desbrisay Museum operates the Wile Carding Mill on behalf of the Nova Scotia Museum. Contact the DesBrisay Museum at (902) 543-4033 for more information.

Heritage Day is Feb. 15, and to celebrate our local MLA Mark Furey is highlighting local heritage sites, WCM is number 2 on the list. Whatever you do to celebrate Heritage Day, inside or out enjoy the winter holiday.