Building The Approaches And Foundation 9 
     
    
   
   
    
     early 1800’s, which had a general store belonging to William Schurman and 
     
     the first churches in the area. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Wilmot River also served as a source of food for early 
     
     settlers—trout, salmon, eels, smelts, clams, oysters, wild ducks, wild geese 
     
     and plover were plentiful. Fur bearing animals; mink, muskrat and weasel 
     
     lived near the water’s edge. (As late as 1939 one local swain trapped enough 
     
     muskrats to buy an engagement ring for his fiancée). Seaweed washed up on 
     
     the shore was used for banking the houses, and mussel mud dug from its 
     
     depths provided fertilizer for the enrichment of the farm lands. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Wilmot River has played an important part in an era of progress. 
     
     In its days when it had greater depth and a swifter flowing channel, it 
     
     carried the huge logs to the mill and the rafts of lumber down stream to 
     
     waiting ships. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Today it is noted especially for its beauty as it flows through the coun- 
     
     tryside. It still provides water for livestock in summer pastures. Fishing and 
     
     hunting continue to be favorite sports for young and old. Where better to 
     
     enjoy them than along the banks of Wilmot River? The speckled trout still 
     
     jump to the anglers lure and many a child from the surrounding countryside 
     
     has learned to fish in this stream. It’s a thrilling all-day trip for a lad to go 
     
     there with a lunch to enjoy at noon under a shady tree. Planning for the 
     
     early morning train ride to New Annan Station, hitch hiking across country 
     
     or travelling by bicycle all added to the challenge and excitement of hooking 
     
     a really big one. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The lucky traveller on Highway 107 at certain times in the year can 
     
     enjoy the sight of wild geese in their spring and fall migration or watch the 
     
     long-legged Blue Heron slowly wading in the water at low tide. But perhaps 
     
     the greatest contribution the River has made in the development of the com- 
     
     munity through which it flows is the power it supplied for the early grist 
     
     mills. 
     
    
   
   
    
          
     
    
   
   
    
     Fishing from the mil/dam at Clark ’5 Pond.