Kerosene Castle

Kerosene Castle
"Kerosene Castle" is a monument to the Canadian discovery of a way to produce keronsene (coal oil).

In the mid-1800s, refineries sprang up across North Americal.  One was on the eastern bank of Sixteen Mile Creek.  Built by Richard Shaw Wood, the Oakville Oil Refinery became one of the largest such operations in Canada.  A few years later, circa 1856, his family built the grand mansion across the street, dubbed Kerosene Castle.

In 1869, fire destroyed the refinery.  burning oil floated down the Sixteen as far as the harbour.  Wood decided not to rebuild; over-production had cut dramatically into profits.  Instead, he devoted himself to his planing mill (also on Trafalgar Road), which turned out finished wood products.

The mansion was a family residence until the mid-1900s, when the house was duplexed.  One side was used as apartments.  The other side was owned by Diana Taylour, O.B.E., a nurse decorated for her service in the First World War.  A colourful character, she ran a nursing home out of Kerosene Castle without regard for her patients' ability to pay.  She died in 1957.

In 1978, Audrey and Colin Hadfield began transforming Kerosene Castle into a private co-educational day school, MacLachlan College.  The Town designated the building a heritage site in 1980, particularly for the west tower and Orial window.