For years Delta was the only significant community in the region due to the Old Stone Mill with farmers going to the mill to get their wheat ground on a custom basis (1/12 to the miller with the rest returned to the farmer as flour). Businesses such as merchant shops, taverns, inns, blacksmiths were established to service this influx of people, Delta was the regional service centre. By 1851 the population of Delta was 250 and an 1897 fire insurance map shows a population of 500.