Zurich Citizens News, 1972-07-27, Page 16PAGE 16
ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY JULY 2'7, 1972
OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUTH PROJECT REPORTS
Five centres in 10 -mile stretch
In the early years of the
development of Hay Township,
due to the limitations imposed
on the settlers by the slow modes.
of transportation, many small
settlements emerged to satisfy
the needs of the farmers in the
locality. On the townline bet-
ween Hay and Stanley Townshiix
five small centres existed in
the ten -mile stretch between
the Sauble Line (Hwy. 21) and
the London Road (Hwy 4).
A sign at the junction of
Highway 21 and the Townline
announces to the traveller that
he is entering Drysdale, but
the only sign of activity is one
variety store. However,
Drysdale, or Drysdaleville
as it was called when a new
post office was established
there in Robert Drysdale's Hotel
in 1873, was once a fairly act-
ive rural centre. Around the
year 1855, Robert Drysdale,
after whom the hamlet was
named, established a hotel
there which was known as the
Royal Oak. This hotel was later
operated by R. Hodgins of Luc -
an, who was also a blacksmith
and by John Brisson.
James Rumohr ran a general
store there in 1874, and in 1875
Robert Drysdale entered that
business. For several ' years,
there were two stores at Drys-
dale at the same time, the
owners throughout the years
being Joe Bedour, John Denom-
me, the Gascho Brothers of
Zurich, Jerry Corriveau, and
Louis Brisson. The earliest
blacksmiths were H. Agnew and
Alexander Agnew, but in the
1880's, Joseph Ducharme
constructed a shop on the west
side of the road and continued
practising his trade until 1949.
The Huron Expositor report -
Grant announced
for dam repairs
The Honourable Leo Bernier,
Minister of Natural Resources
and Huron MPP Charles Mac -
Naughton announced Wednesday
approval of a provincial grant of
$4,500 to the Ausable-Bayfield
Conservation Authority for
maintenance work on the Dani at
Exeter's Riverview Park.
The work costing about $6,000
was completed a few weeks ago.
The surface of the spillway was
severely eroded.:'
ed in 1874 that another trades-
man was to locate in Drysdale.
The newspaper article stated
that Jacob Troyer was going to
start a general jobbing shop
there in the woodworking line.
In 1909, Drysdale gained a
shoe merchant when Jerry Cor-
riveau moved there from Dash-
wood to conduct a shoe business
in the old hotel. He soon
became the postmaster, and
general merchant, and, in 1910,
he constructed a new building.
The next hamlet on the
boundary is found two and a
half miles to the east, and is
now called Blake, although it
was originally named Mansfield
and Berne. Since a lengthy
article on Blake appeared in
last week's edition, it will suf-
fice to mention that Blake was
a somewhat busier burgh, hav-
ing a cheese factory, pump
shop, and chopping and cider
mill in addition to a hotel, two
general stores, blacksmith shops
and two shoemakers.
A mile and a quarter east of
Blake at the junction of the
Townline and the Goshen Line,
Conrad Wagner, a shoemaker,
operated a hotel. The County
of Huron Gazetteer for 1863-
1864 stated that the name of
this settlement was Newtown
and listed the following resid-
ents in addition to Conrad Wag-
ner; John Dinsmore, farmer;
Richard Earrett, teacher; Wil-
liam McAllister, farmer; John
Pfaff, blacksmith shop; Thomas
Sherritt, farmer; and Charles
Wyrner, weaver. This location
is now referred to as Wagner's
Corner, after Conrad Wagner,
but only one house now marks
the spot.
Two and a half miles further
to the east is the next stop,
known as Ilillsgreen. By 1871,
llillsgreen had a post office
with daily mail service, a gen-
eral store, a blacksmith shop,
a wagon making shop, and a
cider mill. Later there was a
hotel at the south-west corner
and a clock making shop owned
by John Maxwell. Owners of
the general store were James
McLeod, James Logan and
Charles Troyer. In 18'77, a Mr.
Pfaff was a shoemaker there.
Blacksmiths were Joseph
Erwin, Charles Troyer, William
Lovegrove, George Hill, and
OPEN DAILY
BREAKFAST & LUNCH
S a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
DINNERS
5.30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
MEET YOUR FRIENDS IN THE
HABITANT
ROOM
YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!
SATURDAY NIGHT, JULY 29
Jecu McLachlan At The Organ
Green Forest Motor Hotel
YOUR HOSTS: "PETE" and "CAROLE" DEITZ
Highway 21 - GRAND BEND
Richard Horn, In 1878, Charles
Troyer and William Lovegrove
formed a partnership and engag-
ed in wood turning, steam grain
crushing, general blacksmith
work, and wagon making. A
cider mill was also operated in
the hamlet by John Troyer who
sold it to Thomas Coleman in
1885.
In the early years, Charles
Troyer was popular as the store-
keeper and postmaster, and
later Hugh Love Sr., became
the postmaster. Mr. Love,
a successful farmer, was also
a Justice of the Peace, a Com-
missioner in the Queen's Bench,
a conveyancer, and an auct-
ioneer.
The last settlement on the
townline at the junction of Hay,
Stanley, and Tuckersmith Town-
ships is Kippen. This was one
of the earliest areas of settle-
ment in this end of the county,
the first store recorded in South
Huron being that of David Heath
on Lot 30, Concession 1. In the
1830's the Canada Company had
a sawmill nad grist mill const-
ructed on the creel< west of
Kippen, and it was soon taken
over by Robert Bell who had
come from Scotland. At that
time, this water powered mill
was the only one in the vicinity
of Hay Township, and it stood
until 1915. Another sawmill
was constructed by James And-
erson about half a mile farther
on the same creel< to the north-
west of Kippen.
One of the earliest black-
smiths in the village was Wil-
liam Edgar, who also operated
a carriage shop . In 187 8, Thom-
as Mellis succeeded Edaar in
in the blacksmith business and
continued in that trade for sev-
eral years. There were two
blacksmiths in Kippen in the
1880's, as Thomas Mc€lymont
was engaged in that trade as
well as Mr. Mellis. The last
blacksmith in Kippen was Wil-
fred L. Mellis who still resides
there.
In 1879, Kippen had two
wagon and carriage makers,
William Edgar and Hugh Mc-
Intosh. Henry Ricker was the
last tradesman in this line in
the hamlet, and in 1905 he
secured a Canada patent on a
wagon tongue hound.
There was also a pork packing
plant there which was establish-
ed by the Petty Brothers in 1874.
I however, they moved to Hen-
sall in 18'7'7 and Henry Schaffer
entered this line of business.
Around 1890, this industry died
out and the building was used
for a short fine as a fish pack-
ing plant. There were also
grain elevators constructed be-
side the railroad tracks,
Other businesses in Kippen
besides the general stores oper-
ated by such persons as Robert
Mellis, J. Balfour, Mr. Cald-
well, J. Detweiller and P.
Bowey were a clothing establ-
ishment run by Henderson and
Lamb in 1876; a boat and shoe
shop opened in 1879 by James
Jamieson; a tailor shop owned
by William Watson in 1888; a
butcher shop started up in 1891
by Gilbert Dick; a harness mak-
ing shop operated by Alex Mc-
Kenzie and then John Workman;
and a hotel operated by Henry
IT'S PLAYTIME
(continued from page 14)
Would all those playground
children who are interested in
these events, be sure to give
their names to Bill, Mike, Ruth
or Laurie as soon as possible so
that transportation arrange-
ments can be made.
Schaffer.
Today, a drive along the
townline between Drysdale and
Kippen reveals little of this
story from the past. Only one
house or a store stands as a re-
minder of the past existence
of three of these hamlets, and
the other two are best described
as sleepy burghs,
JOE
NAPALIiHd, ,y
THE
LAS
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W� Nd PMI el l.t3M A9
Sun.30 m-31 rud.7 THREESOME
Rovra;4, Guess Who's Coming
10 .L.SCI.S
larp�oii� r
To Breakfast ?
7usrrns'6THEATRE
8 GODERICH AT CONCESSION .RD, 4 . PHONE 524.9981 .
Wad. Thurs.3 Fri. 4 Sat. 5
WILD COUNTRY
VINO C CHIO
Show Starts
At Dusk
.or.u,.rct P fH
T Km MOVIE,o IKso �s
11 ♦la Ov 1� k.�';.p.
`JOE' IS INDEED DIM
HAVE 'CO SEEI„
TAM YOU SIMPLY
_Judith Ct1st, TODAY SNOW
BROWNIE'S �BVE'ii
CLINTON - ONTARIO litENTME
WED. - THUR. - FRI. - SAT. - SUN. - MON. - TUES.
July 26th to August 1st
ALBERT R. BROCCOLI
and HARRY,SALTZMAN
present
Sean
Connery
n rnes�
Bond 007zr
' in IAN FLEMING'S
Duamond5
Are
Forever
Forever
Forever
Adult Entertainment
A
N
D
BURT.
LANCASTER
ROBERT
RYAN
LEE J.
COBB
in A MICHAEL WINNER
Filth'
`LAWMAN'
COLOR by OeLuxe'
WED. - THURS. - FRI.
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WARREN BEATTY' ADMITTANC! 5rCOUY.J
JULIE CHRISTIE to lfa:f Mute
Inw1 a Am a oa.
Adult Entertainment
COLOR CARTOON
— August 2-3-4
JANE
FONDA
ADMITTANCE
to IIISG.l
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DONALD
SUTHERLAND