 When the construction crews arrived in 1827 to build the Rideau Canal, the village of Merrick's Mills, as it was then known, was a thriving community of about 300.A plaque was erected by the Merrickville and District Historical Society in remembrance of an unknown number of persons who were buried in the McGuigan Cemetery between the years 1800 and 1900; Many died of pestilence, principally malaria, during the construction of the Rideau Canal.Unlike most of the pre-canal sites, Merrick's Mills was not displaced or overshadowed by canal construction.