HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1996-06-26, Page 17Glorious building
While the hamlet of Walton once had two churches, Duff's
United stands today on the Grey Twp. side.
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Thank You
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for their assistance in gathering information for
the Grey Township section.
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Grey Township
on your 140th birthday
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is proud to be a
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Don & Jill Sholdice
Brussels (519) 887-6294
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1996 PAGE 17.
Grey Township — 140 Years
Walton sits at south-west corner of township
Walton is situated at the south-
west corner of Grey Twp. Its name,
derived from Walton, England, was
named by Mr. J. Hewitt who owned
land in the village.
The first settlers came on foot
along the Huron Road. There was
no Seaforth then and no direct road
from Seaforth to Walton. The
immigrants crossed the stream at a
place call Harphurhey and
Rexborough. It was some time after
1854 that this road was under
brushed out to the vicinity of
Grieves' bridge by McFadzean, his
son, and Mr. Mosher. John
McFadzean with his two sons and
Mr. Mosher came in 1854 to "take
up" land. They lit a fire and spent
the night on the knoll where Ross
Bennett's orchard was located.
It was not long before all the land
in the area was taken up by
English, Irish and Scotch settlers.
The first post office was
established in 1862 with George
Bigger as postmaster. Rural mail
delivery started in Walton in 1912.
The post office was later moved to
Humphries store, which is now
closed.
The telegraph ran through the
village before 1864. At first it was
the type that put the message on
paper in the form of a code. Later a
ticker type was used.
The telephone came in 1908.
In 1862 Walton had a general
store, shoe shop, blacksmith shop,
wagon shop, carpenter shop, saw
mill, cheese factory, grist mill,
stove and iron shop, two hotels,
three churches and a school.
During the summer of 1924 a
hydro line was extended from
Seaforth to Walton. A progressive
merchant of Walton, the late W. G.
Neil, upon his death, made a
bequest for the purpose of
installing streetlights. His wishes
were carried out in 1930.
The CPR railway was built in
1907 from Goderich to Guelph.
From 1907 to 1930 four passenger
trains ran a regular schedule from
Hamilton to Goderich, but a diesel
engine was put on in 1930 and only
a round trip a day was made. Later
a mixed train was operated. In
January 1967 the station was sold
to Alex Gulutzen.
The first account of any
schoolhouse is a log school built on
the south-east corner of Lot 5,
Conc. 15, Grey Twp. This was
replaced by a frame school on the
southeast corner of Lot 30, Conc. 9,
Morris Twp. Later another school
was built to the east of this frame
school and joined to it by a
hallway. In 1907 a red brick school
was built to take the place of these
two buildings. The building at one
time held classes in both the
classroom and the basement. Due
to overcrowding, another school
was built in 1920. This school
stood a few yards to the north on
the same property. This school was
closed in 1932 and the pupils
returned to the red brick school. A
new school known as the Grey
Township School Area No. 2 was
officially opened Dec. 12, 1962.
The red brick school was purchased
by Gordon McGavin, and is now
owned by his son, Neil McGavin.
In 1867 a meeting was called to
discuss the erection of a church.
The Little Presbyterian Church
served its time and later a new
church was built which served the
congregation until the present
church was erected in 1912. The
United Presbyterian Church of
North America joined with the
Presbyterian Church of Canada and
in 1925 the Methodist Church of
Canada joined making it the United
Church of Canada.
The Walton Area Sports Club
operates the Walton ball park.
As of March, 1995 the Walton
Community Hall is operated by a
hall committee. It was formerly run
by the Walton Women's Institute.
The library, a branch of the
Huron County Library was closed
in 1996.
Walton boasts of the following
businesses: James Dale Milk
Transport Ltd. dispatches trucks to
collect and dispose of the dairy
farmers' milk. Ryan Enterprises;
owned by Jerry and Ann Ryan
makes weekly trips to the USA and
points in Canada trucking a variety
of trailer loads; The Walton Inn,
owned by Annie and Karl
McNaughton, on the corner of
County Roads 12 and 25, caters
and serves breakfasts and lunches
and also has bed and breakfast for
visitors to the community; lawn
mowers, small engines, cars and
trucks can be repaired at the
Walton Auto and Small Engines
Repair Shop in the former Marks'
Garage; the Walton Country Store
houses the retail postal outlet and
general merchandise. B. J. and
Thys Dejong operate it.
Gary Combs' Antique and Attic
Treasures brings nostalgia to the
community. Dauphin Feed and
Supply Ltd. owned by Gary
Dauphin of Brussels caters to the
farmers' needs plus selling bird
seed, dog and cat food, and mixing
and chopping and hauling grain.
Cook's, a division of Parrish and
Heimbecker Ltd., buy, sell, store
dry grains and have a supply of all
different fertilizers. McGavin's
Farm Equipment and McGavin's
Farm Supply are celebrating 60
years in business in 1996, selling
and repairing farm machinery.
Floyd Hilts operates an auto body
and paint shop. Mary Humphries
operates a Bed and Breakfast
business. Viola Kirkby uses her
home for one too.
The people of Walton, who don't
work at the above businesses either
are retired, or work outside the
immediate community.
CIP ci C/
ID
140th
Congratulations
on your
Birthday
1
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J.L.
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