A History of Elmsdale , West, and Brockton , Technical drawing by Brian McLellan ,CET, adapted from an original by Kay Williams Map of Mills in the Elmsdale Area Carding mills disentangled and combed out fibers of wool, in preparation for spin- ning. William Wells is believed to have built the first dam and sawmill around 1840, in what is now called Elmsdale . According to the Dyer Diaries there was a house at the mill in 1873. In August 1873 Mr. Wells ' mill burned down but a new one was built. By 1881 Sinclair Wells and Malcolm R. Wells were running a mill in Elmsdale at the end of the . Also, from 1855 to 1863, William Wells Jr. operated a sawmill at the end of the . 391