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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1996-06-26, Page 14AWL al I I 4IF 149,111 13); Si 7C GREY TOWNSHIP From MDL ]Co QC) its Grtgrot I tt to Grey Township on your 140th Birthday Proud to be serving the residents of Grey Township CARDIFF & MULVEY REAL ESTATE & INSURANCE LTD. BROKER • Farm • Residential • Commercial Phone 519-887-6100 Fax 519-887-6109 Keeping Grey cool in the summer and warm in the winter with Beautiful Styles to Make your House a Home Available through your local MDL Dealer Congratulations to Grey Township on their 140th Birthday Pleased to be keeping Grey on the go with Quality Used Cars & Trucks "We not only sell cars — we service them" Brussels 887-9269 Conraturations and best wishes to all of our friends and neighbours Associated Financial Planners Limited Helen M. Hetherington Financial Planning Consultant RR #3 Brussels, Ontario NOG 1H0 Bus: (519) 887-9964 Fax: (519) 887-9967 Res: (519) 887-6817 Toll Free: 1-800-869-8922 Heal! Office: 20 Erb St. W., Suite 800, Waterloo, Ont. N2L 1T2 PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1996 Grey Township — 140 Years Township of Grey named for English earl On June 28, 29 and 30th Grey Township will celebrate its 140th birthday. The township of 64,746 acres was named for Charles the second, Earl of Grey. The first minutes are dated Grey, Lot 10, Conc. 11, Jan. 21, 1856. The first known European settler was a man by the name of In the 1860s Jonathan Carter established a sawmill on the Maitland River. This part of Huron County was held by the crown and settlers were beginning to take up land for farming. The road to the mill was between Lots 22 and 23. This eventually became Huron County road 19. In 1863 Carter became the first postmaster, and the post office was called Carter's. In 1867 the new postmaster William Spence called the new community Ethel. He remained in the village, became a merchant and established a pottery. In the mid 1870s a grist mill was built on the river where it was damned. The importance of the river was overshadowed by the coming of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce railway in 1873. The township paid the railway to run the line through the township. The railway was built south of Ethel at Tindell, however, the railwaymen renamed it Ethel Station. The township was rapidly settled in the following decades. The first school was established in 1869. Churches were built in 1874 and 1877. The community was booming and a variety of businesses were established. Hotels were built at both Tindell and Ethel. The livery stable, the blacksmith and the veterinarian all focused on the horse which was essential for farming and transportation. In 1872 John Cober established a steam sawmill and carriage works. The next year fire destroyed his works but he re-established it in the village. Fire was a constant threat and on occasion help was summoned from Brussels and Listowel by train. The turn of the century seems to have been the peak of economic development in Ethel. The Bank of Hamilton had a branch built. The building eventually became the township office. Prior to that the meetings were held in the community hall, which was built in 1892. There were a variety of merchants, a barbershop, a dance hall, a milliner's shop and an egg grading station. The coming of the automobile changed the economic life of the village and roads now became more important than the river or the railway. Businesses closed or moved. Empty buildings were torn down. The post office and the grist mill were closed in the 1980s. Ethel Beauchamp, who lived at the present location of Henfryn, and later moved to a location west of Cranbrook. The land that early settlers thought was too low and wet, has since been drained and proved to be extremely productive. Grey is basically. an agricultural townshp and the past 25 years have seen became a residential community rather than the economic heart of the township. many changes. Many farmers have turned part or all of their operation into cash cropping of corn and beans. Century old barns and sheds have been replaced with modern, one-storey confinement type buildings to house hogs, dairy cows and beef. Early roads and bridges were constructed and maintained by statute labour and council employed pathmasters to ensure that this work was performed. In 1926, the province granted a 50 per cent road subsidy, provided that the municipality hired a road superin- tendent and kept a full set of records. Council hired Wm. Cameron of Cranbrook, ending a half century of statute labour. Today the township owns a full line of equipment, employing a road superintendent, two full-time operators and one part-time. In 1947 all 13 school sections in Grey fell under one board of trustees called the Grey Township School Arca. In 1963 a school was built in Walton and the Grey Central School near Ethel was opened in 1965. When the school was built the enrollment was 310 pupils and in 1996 it is 245. In 1974 Grey Township Council adopted a land use policy which was one of the first rural plans approved in the province. The hamlets of Ethel, Cranbrook, Henfryn, Molesworth, Moncrieff, and Walton boasted numerous flourishing stores and industries in the early years. The largest industries we have now are Cook's Division of Parrish and Heimbecker Ltd. and the Brussels Livestock Division of Gamble and Rogers Ltd. 1996 marks the 40th anniversary of the Grey Township Fire Department. Grey is proud of its dedicated volunteer firefighters. Fire chiefs over the years were: Gordon Cook, George Pearson, Wm. D. Brown, Robert Cunningham, Douglas Evans, Gordon Engel, John Engel and Gary Earl. In 1878, 27,814 acres were cleared and the population given was 3,952. The total assessed value was $142,300. Today there is a population of 2,046 with an assessment of $118,538,205. Sawmill begins Ethel's history