Born in Oxford County, Upper Canada, and largely self-educated, Wilson became a noted inventor in fields ranging from the generation of electricity, through electro-chemistry and metallurgy, to production of fertilizers. His international reputation and considerable fortune derived from the discovery, in 1892, of a method to mass produce calcium carbide as was done in this building. Acetylene, generated by his compound, was used both as an illuminant and a source for other industrial hydrocarbons. Wilson's discovery thus laid a basis for much of the early twentieth century's chemical industry.

Largely self-educated, Willson became a noted inventor in fields ranging from the generation of electricity to electro-chemistry, metallurgy, and the production of fertilizers. His international reputation and considerable fortune derived from the discovery, in 1892, of a method of mass-producing calcium carbide, as was done in this purpose-built mill. Acetylene gas, which was produced from this compound, was used both as an illuminant and a source for other industrial hydrocarbons. Willson's discovery helped lay the foundation for the development of the electrochemical industry in the early twentieth century.