HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1972-06-28, Page 28Leach's Jewellery Store
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This is TurnberrY Street looking south in a picture taken about seventy years ago.
. ,
Historical plaque to commemorate
"The , founding of Brussels"
"The Store for Beautiful Gifts"
CONGRATULATIONS BRUSSELS.
ON YOUR, HUNDRETH BIRTHDAY
Many Happy Returns
Welcome to all visitors. Drop in and see us
while in the Village.
MRS. W. G. LEACH
t /
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kL • ro
On Friday, June 30, 1972,
at 7:00 p.m., an historical plaque
commemorating the founding of
the Village of Brussels will be
unveiled in front of the public
library in that community. ,
This plaque is one of a series.
being erected throughout the
province by the Archives of
Ontario, Ministry of Colleges
and. Universities, acting on' the
advice of the Archaeological and
Historic Sites Board of Ontario.
Friday's ceremony is being
arranged 'and sponsored by the
Corporation of the Village of
Brussels, whose clerk-
treasurer, William H. King, will
act as programme chairman.
Among those who have been in-
vited to take part in the ceremony
are: Jack L. McCutcheon, Reeve
of the Village of Brussels;
Murray Gaunt, M.P.P. (Huron-
Bruce); Robert E. McKinley,
M.P. (Huron); Charles Thomas,
Reeve of Grey Township; William
J. Elston, Reeve of Morris Dawn-
ship; Leslie R. Gray, who will
reprOsent the Historic Sites
Board of Ontario; and, Mrs.Hazel
Matheson, who has done much
work on the history of the area.
The plaque will be unveiled by
Walter S. Scott, the oldest male
citizen born in Brussels.
Reverend Charles A. McCarroll,
Melville Presbyterian Church,
will dedicate the plaque.
The inscription on the plaque
reads:
THE FOUNDING OF BRUSSELS
1854. It is , almost certain,
however, that inany, purchasers
had occupied the land as squat-
• ters before these dates. •
In the vicinity of Brussels,
land's on both sides of the town-
ship line were purchased almost
immediately upon being adver-
tised. • Aniong the earliest set-
tlers • were William Kingston,
William McLeod; Thomas
Halliday, Alexander Stewart and
William Henry Aihley.
Confidence ' in the area's
potential was high, ,apparently
because of the water-power
facilities afforded by the Middle
Branch of the Maitland , River.
In 1855 William Ainley laid out
a village plot which he named
Ainleyville. On 'April 1, 1856,
he sold his property; including
the village site, to John Nicholas
Knechtal, a local merchant and
land speculator. Later that year
a post office named Dingle was
opened with. William, Grant as
postma'ster. During the next
few years several small busin-
esses were established, no less
than five churches were built
and an addition was made to the
village plot .by Thomas Halliday.
Despite. the water-power po-
tential of the river, mills were
slow to develop, partly, it seems,
because the mill rights were
controlled by entrepreneurs who
lived in other centres. John and
Francis Fishleigh and 'Thomas
Babb (all merchants at Mitchell
in Perth County) and Donald Mc-
Innis ( a Hamilton merchant)
controlled the mill property and
flooding rights at various times,
but none seems to have erected
a mill. This achievement was
left to William Vanstone, a miller
from Egmondville, who built a
sawmill and a grist-mill
soon after his arrival at Ainley-
ville in 1859. It was not until
1862, however, that he purchased
the property on which these build-
ings were erected from Donald
McInnis and Thomas.Babb.Rich-
ard Vanstone, a miller in Eg-
mondville
'
was a partner in the
firm until,1863 when he sold his
share to James Vanstone
of Ainleyville'
During the 1860's Ainleyville
flourished. The Vanstone's Flour
and Grist Mill was eicpanded to
"three .run of stone, capable of
dressing 75 • barrels of flour
*daily, besides gristing". Their
sawmill employed ten men and
cut one' million feet of lumber
annually. Other industries
established during 'this period
were woollen mills, tanneries,
a pump factory and a small farm
implement factory. Thp populat-
ion in 1869 was about 500.
The major event of the next
decade was the opening in 1874
• of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce.
Company's line from Palmerston
to Kincardine. In anticipation of
the growth and prosperity .that
would result from its construct-
ion, the village was incorporated
on 'December 24, 1872. At the
same time, its name was changed
from Ainleyville to Brussels:
The high expectations of the
villagers were not disappointed.
The population increased from
780 at the time of incorporation
• to 1,800 in '1881. 'Besides the
expansion of established firnis,
a wide range of new industries
developed, notably a foundry and
a furniture factory. In 1879 J.
D. Ronald established the Brus-
sels Steam Fire Engine and
Agricultural Works.
Since that period of rapid
growth, the village has declined
to its present population of about
850. Most of its manufacturing
industries have disappeared, but
it remains • an important
distributing centre for the
prosperous agricultural region
in which it is located.
In 1854 William Ainley purchased
two hundred acres of land here
on the Middle Branch of the
Maitland River. The following
year he laid out a village plot
which he named Ainleyville. A
post office named Dingle was
opened in 1856. The community
flourished and by 1863 contained
a sawmill, a grist-mill, black-
smith shops, a woollen mill and
several other small industries.
In anticipation of the rapid growth
that the expected construction of
a branch of the Wellington, Grey
. and Bruce Railway would"bring,
Ainleyville, with a population of
780, was incorporated as. a
village and renamed Brussels
on December 24, 1872. Within
a decade the population had '
increased to about 1,800.
The village of • Brussels
straddles the 'boundary between
the townships of Morris and Grey,
which were surveyed in 1848
and in 1852 respectively. Lands
in Morris w ' re first ,offered
for sale on July 30, 1852, and
those in Grey on August' 27,
Peters' Mobile Feed Service
Extends Best Wishes to the
VILLAGE of BRUSSELS
on its
100th „BIRTHDAY
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anti
100th
Birthday
BEST WISHES
We take this 4portunity to
congratulate the Village of Brussels
on 100 years of Progress and. Service.
We are proud of our long and
successful association with the com-
munity.
HURON
WHOLESALE
Phone 527-1280 ' Seaforth
Phone 887-6117
CONGRATULATIONS ' .. •
On the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of
BRUSSELS '
As Agent for Imperial Oil Ltd. we are proud of our
association with the Village and Community during ' the
11 years we have served the area with quality ,Esso
Products and of the contribution we have been able to
make to our fine. Village.
GEO. MUTTER
ESSO AGENT
Brussels
4a—THE BRUSSELS POST, JUNE 28, 1972