Back to Mill Lake

We had Chris, Julie and kids over for dinner Monday so are really enjoying being in the same town. Today's walk took me back to Mill Lake, stocked with rainbow trout right in the middle of the city. I talked to an old guy in his wheelchair one day 'just dangling his fishing rod in the water', likes the fresh air. It's beautiful with babies feeding ducks, mountains in the background, a huge eagles/osprey? nest in the tree, swimming pool and water park at one end.
In 1903, the Tretheway brothers bought the Abbotsford Lumber Company on the north shore and soon the mill site and area became Milltown, due to the mill buildings, company housing and general store. Due to employment at the mill, many newcomers and immigrants were drawn to the area. The Lumber Company donated lumber to build the Gur Sikh Temple in town and bath houses for the Japanese workers. By 1930, the Great Depression shut the mill down and today only the pilings remain at the edge of the lake.