Village Squire, 1977-07, Page 14Blyth celebrates
100 years of history
BY DEBBIE RANNEY
The village of Blyth has decreased a lot in size and
population since its early beginnings in 1877.
It's surprising to learn that in its early years Blyth had five
general and one fancy goods store, eight groceries, one
hardware, one boot and shoe, one flour and feed, one
furniture, one jewellery, one drug, two book, two tin and
stove, two harness stores, two bakeries, a butcher's steam
flour and grist mill, a steam sawmill, a stave factory, a shingle
factory, a foundry and agricultural implement factory, a
planing mill, a sash, door and blind factory, a woollen factory,
a furniture factory, two wagon and four blacksmith shops,
four hotels, two schools, four churches (Presbyterian,
Methodist, Episcopalian and Roman Catholic), two weekly
newspapers (the Record and the Review), two telegraph
offices, and Masonic (Blyth No. 303), Orange and I.O.G.T.
Lodges.
The first settlers in Blyth were Lucius A.C. McConnell from
the County of York (originally from County Down, Ireland)
and Kenneth McBean a Scotsman who had previously settled
in the Township of North Easthope.
McConnell settled on lots 1 and 2 in Concession 10 of
Morris Township and McBean settled on lots 1 and 2 in
Concession 9 of Morris Township. These settlements took
place in May of 1851.
The next two settlers into the Blyth area were Robert
Drummond and John Templeton who settled on the
Wawanosh side.
John Templeton put up a log house where he kept the first
store in Blyth. Robert Drummond's brother John put up the
first hotel in Blyth soon after that. Besides the hotel, John
Drummond also started a shoe shop.
A blacksmith shop was started by George Draney and a
man by the name of Robert Gurney opened up a tailor shop.
That happened in 1854. In 1855 McBean built 'a sawmill.
In 1855 William Drummond who was then one of the
leading citizens and manager of the mercantile establishment
of Adam Hope and Co. of London thought of an idea to lay out
a village on the site of his father's property.
An unusual bill of sale was drawn up to auction off lots. The
bill read as follows:
EXTENSIVE AUCTION SALE! Frederick Wilson is
instructed to sell by auction without reserve, on Tuesday the
3rd day of April next, 200 valuable Town Lots, one-fourth of
an acre each, in the Townships of Wawanosh, Morris and
Hullett. This progressive part of the county, now fully settled
is situated within ten miles of Clinton and fifteen from
Goderich. As the settlers in this locality now require all kinds
of mechanics and the conveniences of a nearer market town,
this will prove a most favourable opportunity for purchasing
freehold property; and as the present village is not adequate
in any way to supply the wants of the increasingly numerous
community of wealthy farmers at present in the locality, and
as a grist and sawmill, with a tavern and store are already in
Overall, the village of Blyth may not have grown but some of its industries, such as the Howson and
Howson flour and feed milling operation have expanded tremendously. This plant of the early 1950's
is many times as large today.
PG. 12. VILLAGE SQUIRE/JULY 1977.