The Distillery Historic District

The Gooderham and Worts Distillery occupies thirteen acres of Victorian industrial buildings built from red brick and limestone. Founded in eighteen thirty-two, it grew into the world's largest distillery by the late nineteenth century. James Worts originally fueled his steam mill with windmill power, but the business pivoted to whiskey when wheat prices fluctuated. When the firm finally shuttered in nineteen ninety, the site sat silent for over a decade, leaving the copper stills and stone walls intact for later reinvention.