Mississippi Mills Textile Museum, Mississippi Mills (Almonte), Ontario

14

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum tells the story of Almonte’s industrial past, when a cluster of textile mills on the Mississippi River earned the community the nickname “Manchester of North America.” (Note to the curious: This river has no relation at all to its much larger and more famous namesake south of the border.)

The building: A former woollen mill

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is located in an annex to a building constructed in 1867 for the Rosamond Woollen Company in Almonte. (Together, the mill and the annex are now recognized as a national historic site.)

At the mill’s high point, about 400 people worked there. However, after more than a century of operation, it became the last Almonte mill to close its doors, shuttering in 1980. Later that decade, the main six-storey section was converted into condominiums. The two-storey annex reopened as the textile museum in 1991.

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

The museum tells the story of the woollen textile industry in the Mississippi River Valley. The river runs through Lanark County communities such as Lanark, Carleton Place, Appleton, Almonte and Pakenham before emptying into the Ottawa River on the City of Ottawa’s far western edge. The mills that sprang up on the Mississippi River’s banks were key to the communities’ prosperity for 100 years.

Today, the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum conserves and shares that history via thousands of artifacts, ranging from fabric swatches and newspaper clippings to full-sized looms. For instance, the museum has one of Canada’s largest collections of handwoven coverlets.

A permanent exhibition on the museum’s second floor walks you through the historical textile-making process “from sheep to shawl,” with audio, video, photographs, vintage machinery and more. Sometimes, you’ll find artists giving demonstrations on some of the old equipment. On the ground floor, the museum mounts temporary exhibitions focusing on textile history, modern fibre art and other topics.

Events and workshops

The high point of the museum’s calendar each year is Fibrefest, a big fall festival that includes workshops on just about every type of fibre art and craft, as well as a lively market where you can buy supplies and finished pieces. If you’d like to attend one of the workshops, check with the museum in the spring to find out when registration opens, as workshops often sell out quickly.

The museum also organizes other workshops and fundraising events throughout the year.

If you go to the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is at 3 Rosamond Street East in Almonte. (Almonte is one of several communities that makes up the Municipality of Mississippi Mills.) It’s located 53km southwest of Parliament Hill.

The museum is open year round, but hours are more limited from late fall through late spring. Check the museum’s website for current opening hours. Admission is by donation. There’s a small parking lot behind the building, which is also where you’ll find the entrance for visitors using mobility aids. Don’t miss the gift shop, which is filled with beautiful items, many handmade by local artists and artisans.

Looking for something else to see and do near the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum? Here are a few options.

• Mill of Kintail Conservation Area, Almonte
• Day tripping to Almonte
• Day tripping to Carleton Place

You can also check Lanark County’s tourism website.

And if you’d like to extend your visit with an overnight stay, you can use the map below to find accommodations. (Disclosure: If you book a place to stay via the map, I’ll receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting this website!)

Looking for more tips on things to see and do in and around Ottawa? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.