The saw and grist mills built in 1828-30 by William Purdy and his two sons on the nearby Scugog River, formed the nucleus of the Town of Lindsay which was incorporated in 1857. Purdy was imprisoned in 1837 on a charge of sympathizing with Mackenzie's Rebellion, and in 1841 armed mobs attacked the mills, believing that flooding caused by the excessive height of his dam was responsible for fever epidemics. After his release Purdy left the district and his mills were sold to Hiram Bigelow in 1844.