History of Lyn

Lyn was founded in 1784 by Able Coleman who came here from the United States.  They built their first mill in 1786 located on Main Street across from the museum and to the east of the water falls. The first mill burned and was replaced by a second mill in the same location which also burned. After this the five story stone structure you see depicted in the reception area was built south of the village.

During the 1830’s there was a general unrest with the United States and American names. It was then in 1836, that the name of Coleman’s Corners was changed to Lowell. The new name of Lowell only lasted one year, when after realizing there was another Lowell in Ontario, the name was changed in 1838 to Lyn, a Scottish word for waterfall (Linn).
In its heyday, Lyn had more industry and was busier than Brockville. With the introduction of electricity, Lyn unfortunately, slowly lost its manufacturing base and started to decline.