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Charles Macnamara started photographing his family and scenes of Arnprior in 1894. He experimented with double exposures early in his photographic career as this humorous photograph of his father demonstrates.

Please follow the PHOTOGRAPHY storyline for more information about Charles Macnamara's photography.

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Mill No. 1 from Office Roof
December, 1894
McLachlin Bros. Mill No. 1, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

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Taken from the rooftop of McLachlin Bros. office, Macnamara captured a panoramic view of Mill No. 1 and the Town of Arnprior on a clear December day in 1894. Mill No. 1 was a water powered mill built by the McLachlin firm in 1866. Mill operations began in this area around 1833 when George and Andrew Buchanan established a grist mill and saw mill that was later abandoned. Daniel McLachlin bought the property in 1852 and rebuilt the mill and the dam in 1853. He had the town surveyed in 1854 and steadily expanded his operation. The population of Arnprior grew from approximately 100 prior to 1854 to just over 4100 in 1924.

In 1869, Daniel McLachlin retired, leaving the business to his sons John H. McLachlin, Claude McLachlin and Hugh Frederick McLachlin. The firm continued under Claude and Hugh's direction when Daniel and John H. died in 1872. Claude McLachlin died in 1904 and in 1912 Hugh F. McLachlin died. From 1912 onward, Daniel McLachlin's grandson Dan was running the business by himself.

Mill No. 2 was a small mill called, "the little water mill" which was restricted to cutting cedar once the steam powered mills were built along the shore of the Ottawa river, east of the Madawaska river. In 1871, Mill No. 3 was built but it burnt four years later. It was rebuilt in 1882 and Mill No. 4 was erected in 1892. With the expansion from two mills to four, McLachlin's capacity increased from 2000 board feet/day in 1853 to 500,000 board feet/day in 1924. The firm expanded from a small workforce of 5 or 6 men to over 500 employees in the same time period. The bulk of wood sawn by the McLachlin mills was white pine, while spruce, red pine, hemlock and some larch were sawn at different times.

At the extreme right of the photograph you can see the steeple of the Roman Catholic church. From left to right the other churches shown in this photograph are Methodist, Anglican and Presbyterian.

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St. John Chrysostom Roman Catholic Church
1908
Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

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St. John Chysostom Roman Catholic Church was built between 1904 and 1908. Father J. Alphonsus M. Chaine had the firm of Gauthier & Daoust of Montreal draw up the plans for this Gothic style, stone church. The church measured 162 feet long, sanctuary and vestry included, 70 feet wide in the main body of the church and 108 feet transept, 35 feet high. This is one of many photographs that Charles Macnamara took of this impressive structure. St. John Crystostom Separate School can be seen to the left of the church.

Charles Macmara was a member of the Methodist church but did not frequently attend. He preferred to spend his Sundays orchid hunting or searching for signs of wildlife which he recorded in his diaries and photographs. He would, no doubt, have located and photographed the wild orchids which grow on the slopes of the Madawaska behind the church.

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West view from McLachlin Bros. office
December, 1894
Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

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Taken from the rooftop of the office building, this view shows square timber ready to be cut, graded and piled before being shipped by railway to destinations all over the world. The Dontigny woolen mill and McLachlin's grist mill, located on the west bank of the Madawaska bridge, are visible at the extreme right of the photograph. The Town Hall can be seen in the centre of the photograph at the end of Madawaska street. The Arcade building and Galvin's Clothing Store are the two tall commercial buildings located to the left of the town hall in this photograph. The Macnamara home is the white home located in the centre, surrounded by a white picket fence and sheds with white trim. Charles was constantly surrounded by McLachlin Bros. buildings, employees and his close knit family.

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McLachlin's Grist Mill
1903
Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

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This closeup view of McLachlin's stone grist mill was taken in 1903. The grist mill was built between1851 and 1855 by Daniel McLachlin. In 1889, David Craig used the mill to manufacture flour. An article in the Chronicle's Holiday No. of 1904 outlined the changes to the interior of the mill. It reported that the capacity was now 175 barrels per day. It was equipped with "a grain separator, a grade and cockle machine, two scourers, a wheat-streamer, seven double stands of rolls with modern roll exhaust, a scroll mill, two plansitters, three purifiers, a bran and shorts duster, one centrifugal reel and two round reels, and a Robinson grinder."

In 1917, the Arnprior Watchman newspaper reported that McLachlin's put a new roof on the building and converted the interior into a summer boarding house for sawmill employees with bedrooms, dining room and cookery to accommodate 100 men. The Beattie family ran a service station and lunch counter here after McLachlin Bros. Ltd. ceased operations in the late 1930's. The mill burnt in 1975, shortly after Ontario Hydro purchased it. At present, a restored turbine and memorial plaque stands on this historic location.

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Marian Macnamara on swing
1894
153 Daniel Street N., Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

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Marian Macnamara was an accomplished singer who doted on her brother Charles. She is seen in this photograph swinging in the back yard of the Daniel street home near the garage and storage sheds. Marian Macnamara died a spinster in 1949 at the age of 86. She was a founding member of the Victorian Order of Nurses of Arnprior and kept meticulous records of knitting for the war effort. Marian spent four months of the year visiting Jean and Ethel Finnie in Ottawa. Other friends were Musie Lett Cranston, Mrs. Jim Cranston, and the Burwashes. Marian helped raise Jean Macnamara when she moved to Arnprior in 1916. Marian's zealous nature is revealed in correspondence to Charles from Jean while attending University in Toronto in 1926, "I see that the Victorian Order are having a rummage sale - Great fuss I suppose. I'd advise you to hold onto you clothing - I feel rather defenceless away off here as far as protecting my belongings from Auntie is concerned. However there isn't much at home anyway, except my dolls that Auntie takes."

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Charles Macnamara's Poem
16 June 1894

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A Petition
I had a tie - a Windsor tie:
How its fluttering ends would fly,
Angel like, to reach the sky,
But one day when passing by,
A sister, cold & cautious, sly,
Marked it with an envious eye,
And stole, yes stole, my Windsor tie.
Now all the dreary day I sigh,
The tears fall from my blood-shot eye,
My hollow cheeks are never dry.
I swear, if you return my tie,
I'll bravely eat your cake and pie
Although I fade away and die
The cruel sister hear my crie
And give, oh! give me back my tie.

16/6/94 CM

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Duncan Macnamara
1896
Marshalls Bay, Ontario, Canada