From a distance, this tall structure in Port Hope looks like lighthouse since it is so close to Lake Huron near the tip of the Thumb, but after you get up close to it you realize it is something different. Thankfully there is a historical marker next to it that tells you what it is and its significance. Maybe I am one of the few people that bother to read the signs but I appreciate them. In this day and age of google sometimes a plain old sign still works extremely well.
Here is what the sign next to the chimney reads.
This chimney was built in 1858 by John Geitz. It is all that remains of the lumber mill established that year by William R. Stafford. Port Hope grew up around the mill. For a score of years, this town was the center of lumbering in the Thumb. It also became an important producer of salt. In 1871 and again in 1881 the mill, the docks, and possessions of hundreds of people were destroyed by fire. This chimney is a monument to those pioneers who by their courage and industry developed this area.
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