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Founding of Durham
In 1842, Archibald Hunter, a Scottish immigrant, led a party northward on the Garafraxa "colonization road" to the banks of the Saugeen River. The resulting settlement was first called Bentinck and later Durham, probably to honour the English birthplace of George Jackson, the first local Crown Land Agent. The establishment of flour and grist-mills in 1847 made the town the major agricultural centre of the district. The Durham Road, another settlement route, was constructed through... -
Founding of Exeter, The
In 1833, the families of James Willis and William McConnell became the earliest settlers in this area. Within a year, McConnell had erected mills here on the banks of the Aux Sables River near which a community known as Francistown developed. South of the mills, near Willis's location on the "London Road," Isaac Carling opened a store and tannery in 1847, and James Pickard a general store in 1851. Four years later, a village plot... -
Founding of Forest, The
In 1858, Timothy Resseguie laid out the first village lots, and the opening of a railway station here in 1859 on the recently completed Grand Trunk line from Guelph to Sarnia provided the nucleus around which this community grew. A general store was opened and it was followed by other commercial enterprises. An Anglican church was established in 1861 and, the following year, a post office was opened. Grist-mills and sawmills were constructed and the... -
Founding of Goderich, The
In 1826, the Canada Company, a newly chartered colonization firm, acquired a large block of land known as the Huron Tract. The following year, William "Tiger" Dunlop, appointed Warden of the Forests by the Company's first superintendent John Galt, established his base here in the western part of the Tract. Named Goderich after the Colonial Secretary, Viscount Goderich, the site was initially marked only by "The Castle," Dunlop's residence, but a settlement gradually developed. By... -
Founding of Gravenhurst, The
The Muskoka Road, constructed to open the district north of Washago for settlement, had reached this point at the head of Lake Muskoka by 1859. A community soon developed and, in 1862, a post office named Gravenhurst was opened here. Four years later, Alexander Cockburn launched the "Wenonah," the first steamboat on the Muskoka Lakes, and Gravenhurst was established as the southern terminus of navigation and the centre of a developing tourist industry. Lumbering further... -
Founding of Guelph, The
John Galt, the celebrated Scottish novelist and first superintendent of the Canada Company, founded Guelph on April 23, 1827, naming it "in compliment to the Royal Family." Established and heavily promoted by Galt as the headquarters for the development of the Company's huge land purchase, the Huron Tract, the town subsequently declined on his removal from office in 1829. Increased agricultural settlement in the area and Guelph's elevation to administrative centre for the new Wellington... -
Founding of Hallowell
Here, in a secure harbour at the head of Picton Bay, several roads converged during the 1790s, including a portage to Lake Ontario. It thus became a natural shipping and distribution centre for the peninsula and, by 1811, a small community had been well established. This settlement, named "Hallowell" after a Loyalist from Massachusetts, grew rapidly after 1818 when the use of steamers made the harbour more accessible. In 1823-25, the Reverend William Macaulay laid... -
Founding of Harriston, The
In 1854, Archibald Harrison (1818-77), a Toronto-area farmer, acquired land here in Minto Township where the Elora and Saugeen Road crossed the Maitland River. Mills built by Harrison's brothers, Joshua and George, formed a nucleus of a small settlement and, in 1856, a small post office, Harriston, was established. The hamlet grew slowly but, from 1862, agricultural development stimulated local trade. By about 1867, with a population of about 150, the village contained many businesses... -
Founding of Hastings, The
By 1825, James Crooks, a prominent entrepreneur and land speculator of West Flamborough, had acquired over 1,000 acres here at the rapids on the Trent River. He soon erected a small grist-mill but made no further improvements until the government began the canalization of the Trent waterway in 1837 and constructed a lock and dam at "Crooks Rapids." Crooks erected a new grist-mill and a sawmill and, in 1839, surveyed a village plot. Few lots... -
Founding of Iroquois Falls, The
This region's first inhabitants were aboriginal peoples who were attracted by its abundant natural resources and extensive water routes. Europeans arrived in the late 1600s to acquire furs and establish trade with the First Nations. During the early 1900s, Montreal businessman Frank Anson recognized the region's potential for paper manufacturing and, in 1912, he and Shirley Ogilvie were granted a pulpwood concession of over one million acres. Anson oversaw the establishment of Abitibi Power &... -
Founding of Maitland, The
In this vicinity, the site of a shipyard used during both the late French and early British periods, a village plot was laid out in 1824 for Jehiel and Ziba Phillips. Adjacent to it, George Longley, a recent English emigrant, acquired an estate on which St. James Anglican Church was built in 1826. Longley constructed the nearby stone windmill, opened a store and, in 1828, became Maitland's first postmaster. The community, named after Sir Peregrine... -
Founding of Meaford, The
In 1837, inhabitants of St. Vincent Township petitioned the government requesting that land at the mouth of the Bighead River be reserved as a landing place. The land was set aside, a town plot of "Meaford" laid out in 1845, and lots subsequently offered for sale. As early as 1841, a sawmill and a grist-mill had been built on adjoining land, several roads constructed to the landing and a post office called "St. Vincent" established... -
Founding of Merrickville, The
In 1793, William Merrick (1760-1844), a Loyalist from Massachusetts, acquired from Roger Stevens a sawmill at the "Great Falls" on the Rideau River. Here, he built new mills that formed the nucleus of a small community that grew up before 1816, and was known as "Merricks Mills." The establishment of new settlements on the Rideau and the building of the canal, 1826-32, stimulated the growth of the village. Streets were laid out and a post... -
Founding of Milverton, The
By 1851, Andrew West, a New York native, had opened a hotel in the recently surveyed township of Mornington. This building was the focal point around which a small community initially known as West's Corners developed. The hamlet grew gradually and a post office was opened in 1854. Ten years later, the settlement contained a sawmill, a tannery, two churches and some 200 residents. About 1871, the name of the village was changed to Milverton... -
Founding of Mitchell, The
In 1836, the Canada Company, a large private land settlement agency, laid out a town plot (Mitchell) here on the Huron Road. Within a year, John Hicks, one of Logan Township's earliest settlers, had erected a hotel near that point where the road crossed the River Thames. Although settlement proceeded slowly at first, a sawmill was in operation by 1842. Following the opening of the Mitchell-Blanshard Road in 1845, stores and other mills were built... -
Founding of New Hamburg, The
A grist-mill built by Josiah Cushman about 1834 formed the nucleus around which a small community of Amish Mennonites and recent German immigrants developed. A village plot was surveyed in 1845 and, six years later, a post office, New Hamburg, was established with William Scott, an early mill-owner, as postmaster. By then, the village, with a population of 500, contained several prosperous industries, including a pottery, and the carriage-works and foundry of Samuel Merner, a... -
Founding of Newboro, The
The settlement of this area was begun during the building of the Rideau Canal in 1826-32, when a major construction camp was located here at the Isthmus. In 1833, Benjamin Tett, owner of a nearby sawmill, opened a store and, three years later, a post office named Newborough was established. A small community, including several stores, gradually developed as a trade centre for the region's lumber industry and agriculture. About 1850, a tannery was established... -
Founding of Newmarket, The
In 1801, Joseph Hill, attracted by the water-power potential of the Holland River, built a grist-mill on the site of present-day Newmarket and opened a general store. The settlement here in 1803-1804 of Elisha Beman, a major local landowner and entrepreneur, provided a strong stimulus for the community's growth and, within a few years, the village had emerged as the market centre for the rich, surrounding agricultural region. The arrival of the Ontario, Simcoe and... -
Founding of Owen Sound, The
In November 1840, a town plot in Sydenham Township was surveyed as the terminus of the Garafraxa-Owen's Sound Road. John Telfer, government agent, completed his house by November 21 and a shelter for settlers by the following spring. Four private buildings were finished by July 1842. "Sydenham" by 1846 contained a sawmill and grist-mill and about 150 people. A post office, opened in 1847, was named "Owen's Sound" after the settlement along the Garafraxa Road... -
Founding of Palmerston, The
The opening, in 1871, of a station on the main line of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway, soon to be completed from Guelph to Southampton, provided the nucleus around which a community developed. The station was built on land purchased from Thomas McDowell who, in 1854, had become the first settler on the site of Palmerston. In 1872, McDowell and William Thompson who owned adjoining land began selling town lots and, by 1873, the... -
Founding of Pickering, The
Between 1801 and 1807, a settlement developed here in Pickering Township where the Danforth Road crossed Duffin's Creek. Among the early settlers was Timothy Rogers, a prominent Quaker and colonizer who built a saw and grist-mill in 1809. A post office was established in 1829 but the hamlet of Duffin's Creek developed slowly. The construction of the Grand Trunk Railway, completed in 1856, and growing agricultural prosperity stimulated the community's development as an important grist-milling... -
Founding of Point Edward, The
In 1838, John Slocum, a native of New York, established a commercial fishery on the site of a former military reserve here where the St. Clair River flows out of Lake Huron. The area remained sparsely populated until 1859, when it became the crossing point into the U.S. for the Grand Trunk Railway. Rapid development followed and, in 1864, a town plan was laid out for the community called Point Edward, reportedly after Queen Victoria's... -
Founding of Port Dover, The
By 1794, Peter Walker, the first settler in this area, had located at the mouth of Patterson's Creek, but a community did not begin to develop here until Dover, situated further upstream, was razed by invading American troops in 1814. Some of the subsequent reconstruction took place nearer to the creek's mouth where a harbour had been in use since the early 1800s and, in 1835, Israel Wood Powell, a merchant, registered a village plan... -
Founding of Port Elgin, The
Port Elgin's development began when, in 1854, Benjamin Shantz, one of Saugeen Township's early settlers, acquired from George Butchart a sawmill on Mill Creek. Nearby, he built a grist mill and, within three years, a community of 250 people had developed around these mills. Stores, hotels and tanneries were constructed and, in March 1857, a village plot named Port Elgin was laid out. The enterprise of its businessmen, notably Henry Hilker, Samuel Bricker and John... -
Founding of Seaforth, The
Anticipating the construction of the Buffalo, Brantford and Goderich Railroad through this region, Christopher and George Sparling acquired, during 1850-53, most of the present site of Seaforth. George laid out a subdivision in 1856 and Christopher sold most of his land in Tuckersmith Township to a syndicate headed by James Patton of Barrie. Patton is said to have procured a railway station and named it Seaforth. Situated on the Huron Road and the railway, and a shipping point for wheat, Seaforth had a post office by December 1859, was incorporated as a village in 1868, and as a town in 1875.