Acton
Methodist preachers Ezra and Zenas Adams and their brother Rufus settled on the west branch of the Credit River in the 1820s. A community of pioneer families grew around the Adams family farms. Nicklin's saw and grist mill and Nelles' tannery operated here by the early 1840s. They were the nucleus of a hamlet first named Danville, then Adamsville after its first settlers and, by 1844, Acton. In 1856 the Grand Trunk Railway arrived, stimulating growth east along Mill Street from the river to the railway station. By 1869, Acton had some 700 inhabitants and boasted woodworking mills, tanneries, glove makers and a carriage works. It was incorporated as a village on January 6, 1874.
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Ontario Heritage Foundation,
an agency of the Government of Ontario

John R. Barber and the Credit River Dynamo
In 1854, brothers William, James, Joseph and Robert Barber, prominent manufacturers in the Credit Valley, established a paper mill here. Within a few years it had become an important producer of fine rag paper. Fifteen years later, James acquired sole ownership of the mill, soon afterwards it came under his son John's control. John Reaf Barber was an innovative manager who substantially increased the mills production by employing new technology. He equipped the mill to manufacture wood pulp and, in 1888 installed a dynamo to supply additional power. This power plant was reputedly the first in Canada to produce hydro-electric power for use in industrial production. The stone ruins of the dynamo building are still standing, about three kilometres downstream.
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Ontario Heritage Foundation, Ministry of Culture,
Tourism and Recreation