Clinton News-Record, 1985-07-10, Page 117eaiied b r :froado
> .fow g me ter f Own
°Mid m4 ty a asterOM f Huron
County in ice;, land c omron law ..with
Goderichuntil divorced in MO,
hiaterY begins on' September 24th,
1$27, when the ,Directers of the Canada COM -
pally issued a last of unstuctions to John Galt,
called "Memoranda and Suggestions in
Regard to the Huron Tract
1: The River • Theretofore called the
Menesti. g, and sometimes the Red, to be
called the Maitland.
2. The Harbour at the mouth to be called
Goderich Harbour.
3. The rivulet which falls into Lake Huron
about 12 miles south of the Maitland to be
calleciBayfield Creek or River,
4: The Creek about 11 miles further south
to be called Benson Creek.
5. The space between the Maitland River
and -Bayfield Creek to be laid out into a
Township to be called Goderich and a Town
plot of the same name to. be marked out on
the South Bank of the River Maitland.
6. The space North or North East between
the Maitland River and the purchase line of
the Tract to be laid out into a Township to be
called Horton, but no land therein to be
disposed of for present.
7 TThe space between Bayfield Creek and
"Be'iishs Creek to be laid out into a
"Tow ia'hap to be called Stanley, and the rest
• .yy 6f the Tract to be laid out into Townships ac-
cording to a plan herewith transmitted, pro-
vided the same shall be approved by the
LieutenantGovernorand found to corres-
pond with the natural divisions of the coun-
try but subject to be varied according to
these natural divisions, and upon the recom-
mendation of the Superintendent or the
Surveyor General.
8. It will be observed that one range of
Townships is laid out parallel with the range
of Townships called Zorra, Nissouri and
London, from which it is presumed easy ac-
cess would thus be found by settlers pro-
ceeding to the new Townships. The other
Townships in the Huron Tract, excepting
those which are or shall be divided by
Rivers or natural boundaries, are laid outas
bounded by lines running due. North and
South and East, and West, which arecon-
°r;
-11
5•4
t 'its- ; 7��•
,
The Beginning
A charter member of Huron
County, Goderich Township
divorced the town of Goderich
ce fo # ham and th. � seers whos€
in :activity xxiight 4.0010••,4.1g010:, •
an aldditional lot, would lave the
OiOaf obtaining the reserved lot 04,
igthleirs
Where settlers open concession roads'
fox ems4Ves, all the lots i n each. conees
e_OW iniot be disposed of at once, if so
•dell by the settlers.
Memorandum. in regard to Town Sold..
• 11 One acre is 10 square chains, or 66 feet
by .66 feet, or 43,560 square feet The Town ; •
Plot of Guelph according to the Diagram •
seems laid out into square Wilding -Iota of t ¶;
of an acre each, the front and the depth of -
each lot being equal or about 104 7/ 20ths
feet each. It seems that parallelograms off
an oblong form would be more convenient,
and if the lots are to be each 1/4 of an acre,
they might be 66 feet front by 165, or 90 by
121.
15. It seems also that in the central parts
of the Town to be laid out and cleared by the
Company, building lots of 60 feet front by 121
feet containing each 7,260 square feet or ex-
actly
xactly 1/6 of an acrew would be quite suffi-
cient and in the main streets every alternate
lot ought to be reserved for the Company or
these alternate lots might be let as garden
ground to the proprietors of the adjoining
lots, but not sold 'till the price should be in-
creased so as to pay the' expenses incurred
by the Company in clearing and laying -out
the Town.
17. The preceding question is one of•
which the solution is rather difficult, and
til some experience shall have been gain
on the subject, it seems scarcely just to the
Proprietors of the Company to follow the ex-
ample which has been set at Guelph of
allowing a moiety of the gross price of lots to
be set apart as a fund for Schools or for any
other purpose. It is a more expedient plan to
build a School House at once and to make
allowance ff necessary for a School Master •
in addition to the fees which he would
receive for teaching and,then to dispose, of
building lots for the sole benefit of the Com-
•
pany as being the party in .advance for the
expense of forming the Town.
18. Considering it probable that in the win-
dings of the River Maitland 'the Bluffs or
steepest ascents are on the concave side of
the stream it is assumed that at the falls •
about five miles from the mouth of the River
the point on the left bank is lower than the
opposite shore and if so thatwould seem -the
• fittest site for the Town being. nearly sur-
rounded by the River, sheltered from the
North west storms and sufficiently far from
the lake to be removed from the fogs which •
are common in spring — besides that at the
Falls the expense of a dam, of, mills, and
probably of a bridge must probably be in-
curred at all events, and it may be as well to
begin with only one establishment.
19. It will however be requisite at the Har-
bour or landing place to construct a wharf
and to erect a store or warehouse, besides
•• some building for the reception of settlers on
their arrival, and it may be found that the
point at the mouth of the River is the fittest
site for the Town. It will therefore be right to
reserve both these points until the site of the
Town shall be determined — 1000 acres at
each point should be so reserved. together
with all the front lots on the River from the
lake to the falls, and perhaps to the rear of
the Township. This would be done by cutting
the first road from the Harbour to the Falls
at the distance of half a mile from the River, .
and laying out on each side of such road lots
about the size hereinbefore suggested '/a of a
mile front by Y2 a mile deep - containing •
each 80 acres or thereabouts according to
the bends of the River and of the Road.
20. • As this Road must be opened at t
Company's expense the lots bordering u
it must be excepted from those which set-
tlers depositing 5 pounds per lot according
to the'Prospectus will be entitled to select at
7 16d per acre.
sidered a convenient arrangement, but
which may be varied if deemed expedient
by the Superintendent or recommended by
the Surveyor General.
9. It is presumed that the part of the Huron
Tract situated in the London District, being
the whole of it with the exception of the
Township of Bosanquet, will soon be of suffi-
cient importance to constitute a County, to
which, or to the first County constituted, it is
proposed to give the name of Huskison. That
name however, and the names proposed for
the Townships are only suggestions, in order
to be submitted to -the Lieutenant Governor
for his approbation.
10. It apPears to the Court that the most
convenient 'Iplan for surveying a township'
will be to lay it out into lots of 20 chains or a
quarter of a mile in front, or on the road, and
40 chains or half a mile in depth.
11. The Concession roads would thus be
one mile distant; from each other, each lot
would contain 80 acres or 1 18 of a square
mile, and a township of the usual size of 10
square miles would contain 800 lots, one of
which would be quite enough to give a man
purchasing land on credits, while a
capitalist by purchasing several lots con-
tiguous to each othermay have as large a
farm as suits his inclination.
appy Sesquicentennia
to Goderich Township
from your friends in Clinton
On behalf of all the citizens of Clinton we are
pleased to extend to the citizens of Goderich
Township congratulations on your 150th Birthday.
0
MAYOR: Chester Archibald
REEVE: Ernest Brown
DEPUTY REEVE: Frank Van Altena
COUNCILLORS: Bee Cooke, John Deeves,
Charles Burgess, Ross Carter, Jim Hunter,
Gordon Gerrits
THE CORPORATION OF
THE TOWN OF CLINTON