The Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-09-28, Page 60in on brussels turnpike
Believe it nr not. this. expanding Town of Seaforth started
with a meagrelog cabin. It was owned and occupied by Andrew
Steene and located at the intersection of the Huron and
Brussels Roads. The North=South road was commonly known
as the Brussels1Turnpike. es ecially • those in
in the 1840's the people' of the day, p
bustling Egmondvilleand growing°Harpurhiey, thought Steene
had made a very 'poor choice in choosing land here, instead of
in the 'booming' villages.
The area in which he settled was aptly named "Guide -Board
Swamp" because of the marshy., wetland and, the sign guiding
people to different places,. namely Goderich,9 Egmondville and
Ainlayville (Brussels),
THE NATIONAL DREAM SEAFORTH S'T'YLE
The existence of Seaforth was. in fact, detertnined by the
coming'of the railroad, not the presence of Andrew Steene. It
does not, seem that the location of the railroad was a clear cut
and simple decision. hut rather the result of a complicated
series of land exchanges.
The story probably is,best begun in the days of Colonel Van
Egmond, who owned much of the land in the swamp. After his
participation in the 1837 Rebellion, this land was confiscated
by the Crown and held for a number of years after his death.
Ultimately it was sold by public auction and fell into the hands
of one G.J. Goodhue of London. in a short time the land
passed to L. Laurason of the same city and was sold, again to
Christopher and George Spading.,
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Cider f est -
Come to' Canadian Tire for
A COMPLETE LIME OF
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Goods Needs
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D. Derbyshire Merchandising Ltd.
126 Main St.
Seaforth
527-1350
It was during the Spading ownership that the Buffalo and
Lake Huron Railway pur'chased a aright-of-wa - through the
property. Within a matter of months the 'city' speculators
arrived in the name of Patton. Bernard and le Frois. No one has
ever suggested that they had advance knowledge of
government planning. but it wys coincidental that Patton was a
law partner of John A. MacDonald in Kingston. Somebody,
somewhere had plans ,fora townsite in the swamp.
A village plans Was soon laid 0041)01'035S the first plan Was
registered in the nanteof Seaforth, as &suitable reminder from
the Scottish homeland of;.one of the to Vn founders -
The railway was officially opened Olt .Ione 28, i&58,. There
were three contenders ',for thelocation of< a station:
Egmondville, Harpur-hey and the fledgling Seaforth. In fact,
none of the three were considered by the railway company to be
of sufficient import to warrant a station.
The villagers on either side close to‘ build'+flagstations at
their own expense. While both were arguing over the location
of a regular station. the firm of Patton, .Uernard and Le Frois
donated a parcel of land on which was to be constructed at their
expense. a station. The writing was on the wall: fate had
determined that Seaforth would be the site of future growth
and prosperity.
In the years Following. Seaforth soon became a thriving
centre. Trade goods flowed south from the Brussels area in
particular and the railway traffic in farm exports became very
important.
Changing transportation patterns over the last 100 years
have reduced the importance of the railway. Passenger service
was the first to fall by the wayside. Freight service followed
soon after and finally, in this centennial year, not even the
station remains as a reminder of the past.
OILI NO, SALT...
Surprisingly few people realize that salt was at one time
Seaforth's number one industry. The first salt discovery was
made in 1868. It ws a large find and caused much excitement
among the people. Some even speculated that theirtown might
become the salt centre of the world. Salt block after salt block
was set up.
Please turn to page 21
Welcome to
the 9th Annual Van Egmond Foundation
Ciderfest
est
SEAFORTH
AUTOMOTIVE
58 MAIN ST. SEAFORTH 527-0880
Owned and operated by Bruce Wilbee and family
1