The history of tobacco in Delhi, Ontario17 chapters · 46 sources · every figure citedPlan a visit to the Delhi Tobacco Museum
The Quance Saw Mill, a long timber building in Quance Park, Delhi.
PlacesSaw and grist mills/Quance Park, Delhi

Big Creek, 1830s–1970 The Quance mills

Mills on Big Creek that predate the town’s name, and in the 1930s cut the lumber for the tobacco country’s kilns and barns.

Built 1830sStatus standingOpen to the publicChapters 1 & 6
StatusStanding
AccessPublic
LocationExact
Era1830s
What we know

Before tobacco, the creek

Delhi’s mills on Big Creek go back to the 1830s. A Norfolk Heritage walking tour records that they were owned and run in the 1830s by Henry Sovereen, grandson of Delhi’s founder, Frederick Sovereen, and that the Quance family bought them in 1874 and ran them until 1970.S33

When tobacco arrived, the mills served it. In the 1930s they cut lumber for tobacco kilns, laths and barns.S33

The Quance Saw Mill still stands in Quance Park, the park the Delhi Tobacco Museum overlooks.S6

The Quance Saw Mill, a long timber building in Quance Park, Delhi.Today
The saw mill, nowThe Quance Saw Mill in Quance Park, Delhi, 2017.2017 · Jfvoll · CC BY-SA 4.0
Connected

People & chapters

Chapter 1Before TobaccoThe town on Big CreekChapter 6Building Tobacco CountryLumber for kilns, laths and barnsPlaceThe Delhi Tobacco MuseumOn the hill above the park

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The mills, the mill pond, the Quance family: any picture from before 1970 would help tell this story.

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Found a mistake? Tell us. How to cite this pageDelhi Tobacco. “The Quance mills.” Places. Last updated 4 October 2026. https://delhitobacco.ca/places/quance-mills/