Pieces of the past unearthed in Paris, Ont.

A major infrastructure project in Paris, Ont. is unearthing pieces of the past. CTV’s Karis Mapp take a look.

A major infrastructure project in Paris, Ont. has uncovered something more than aging sewer lines.

Brant County is in the midst of what they call ‘The Downtown Dig.’ The work includes underground construction and sidewalk rejuvenation, but when crews dug down into the downtown core, they found something unexpected.

Parts of an old archway emerged from the ground.

“The archway we see right now was actually a reconstruction of the tailrace archway [from] around in the 1890s,” Steven Pinkett, with Paris Archives Team, explained.

Researchers already knew about the presence of a millrace, a channel that carries swift currents of water to power a mill wheel.

Tailraces are another part of the system that carries water away from a water wheel after the power has been generated.

“The millrace was ahead of it and was probably constructed about 1822,” Pinkett said. “The mill itself was the power for the gypsum plant – the first gypsum plant.”

William Holme opened that gypsum mine in the 1800s. According to a document by the County of Brant Heritage Driving Tour, the town was named Paris because of the large gypsum deposits that were mined to make the building material called Plaster of Paris.

Once the arch was uncovered, photos made their way to social media.

“We had an idea it was there, but to actually see it uncovered and see the interest that’s been shown has been really good,” said Adam Crozier, director of corporate strategy for the County of Brant. “One of the encouraging things about a construction project like this is, ‘What is the heritage? What’s buried under the road?’”

For some residents, the dig has been a point of fascination.

“Tuesday, I came downtown and I noticed an archway that had been unearthed on the site and I thought, ‘Well, what is that?’” Paris resident Ginny Moore told CTV News.

Now Moore has her own piece of Paris history – a brick from the archway.

“I’ll probably put it in my garden somewhere,” she said smiling. “It’s a deep piece of history and I’m just happy to have a piece of it.”