Electric Co. Ltd ., was purchased by Canelco Services Ltd . of Calgary, and Henry Scales was retained as its general manager. He continued in this capacity until the plant was sold to the Maritime Electric Co. Ltd . in 1965. This company immediately terminated the operation in 1965, and connected the system to its own power grid. They removed the machinery and switch gear panels and sold the dam and property to the Fish and Wildlife Division of the Provincial Department of Environment and Tourism who maintained it as a park and sports fishing area. In 1969 a considerable amount of work and planning, a restoration project began with an L.T.P . grant of $12,000.00 and $1,000.00 from a special League fund, as well as generous assistance from the Provincial Dept . of Environment and Tourism's Parks Division . It was officially opened as a museum in September 1973. Cutting the wire to officially open the museum was Austin A. Scales , assisted by Mr. Kenneth Bell , Summerside , of the Historical Electric Service League Society. Since that time a great deal of work has been done to restore the plant to its original state as a tribute to the early days of electricity on P.E.I. The old David Rogers house once called "Kenlith" and built in 1870 has also been turned into a museum to tell the story of electricity of earlier years. The area around the site is now a and is a well known trout fishing area. The pond is also used by the for their water safety programme and by the University of P. E.I , for study purposes. Nature trails have been set up. MILLS AT MILL VALLEY Mill Valley is in Lot 25 and has played an important part in the life and prosperity of the people of Freetown . This was especially true in the years when the mills were in operation. The valley was at one time, full of the hum of industry with its woolen and cloth mills. It was part of the 6500 acres owned by William Schurman the Loyalist . In April 1837, Mr. John Maxfield purchased 2000 acres of this land. His land extended from the on the north to MacDonalds' line on the south. Around 1848 John Johnstone of Long River purchased the mill site and some land from Mr. Maxfield and began to develop a cloth mill. John did not enjoy good health and after a year of more in Mill Valley he was advised by his doctor to go to Florida where the climate was better suited to his constitution. His brother James, who owned and operated a mill on the , disposed of it and took over the Mill Valley operation from John. Not long after this he also married the woman who had been engaged to John. John only lived in Florida a short while before he passed away. His remains were brought back in a lead casket and are buried in the United Church Cemetery at Summerfield . James Johnstone proceeded to order some machinery for the cloth mills from the Old Country. The vessel on which it was shipped was lost, and there was no insurance. Eventually, he succeeded in bringing out a second shipment of machinery which arrived safely, thus he was finally able to equip his cloth mill. The mill building was four stories in height and was the centre of much activity, providing work for numerous employees. Several types of cloth were manufactured and it was sometimes a dangerous job. One day an employee believed to be a Mr. Macintosh got up on the cover of the dyeing vat to get something that was needed in the loft overhead. The cover collapsed and the man fell into the boiling dye. He perished instantly. Another loss for the Johnstones involved a shipment of cloth to . It was shipped by rail to Vancouver, but in those days it had to be shipped by stage coach from Vancouver to . It never reached its destination. The Johnstones owned about 400 acres in Freetown and Kelvin and also carried on a large farm operation. The land he owned in Freetown was a field on the north side (code 23) and referred to as the Johnstone field. It is now owned by Elwood Paynter . The Johnstones were known to have kept a large number of horses which were sold by public auction prior to his departure for Western Canada . After a few years, lumber and grist mills arose on the site. John Ready Thompson, who lived in Mill Valley , started the grist mill which included a flour mill. In 1904 he sold three acres and buildings to Mr. Andrew Murphy who also operated the saw mill. Mr. Thompson left Mill Valley , and moved to Freetown , later to Crapaud where he operated a store until ill health forced him to give up and retire. Andrew Murphy operated the mill until 1919, when he was killed by a broken shaft on which he was working. John William Thompson was the next owner of the grist and saw mill. The grist mill gave way to an electric light plant and it was in 1915 when Bannerman Tanton and Co. established their Light Plant Co. This company was composed of John Lecky , Edward MacMurdo , J. Ready Thompson, Robert MacMurdo , Fred Simmons , Andrew Murphy , Christopher Cairns and James Jardine . 70