Alexander-Wilson Mill

Alexander-Wilson Mill is a multi-story grist mill from the mid-19th century beside Lock 37 on the Ohio & Erie Canal in Cuyahoga Valley. The public stop is a wayside on the Towpath Trail across the canal, where a hand-cranked audio player tells the mill’s story. If you’re already walking the Towpath and like industrial history, it makes a worthwhile short pause.

Start at the unmarked Fitzwater Parking Lot on Fitzwater Road, then follow the Towpath Trail south to the wayside. The wayside is marked wheelchair accessible, though details about the lot and connecting route are limited. The mill is viewed across the canal; no public interior access or tour is documented.

The Alexander family built the mill in the mid-1850s. A waterwheel first turned its grinding machinery, then turbines used a diverted mill run at Lock 37. The mill switched to electric motors by 1970; its original machinery survives but no longer works. The canal opened between Cleveland and Akron in 1827, giving valley farmers a route to larger grain markets.

Thomas and Emma Wilson bought the mill in 1900, and the family business continues here as a feed and farm-supply store. Its current operation sells pre-bagged feed and fertilizer. For a photo, include the mill, canal, and Lock 37 spillway together; the moving water helps explain why the mill stands here.