Traces
of Our Past
The
edited version of this story first appeared in Simcoe
Life Magazine
Fall
2007
Volume
3 Issue 3
They
lay hidden amongst the overgrown shrubs and trees.
Remnants of civilization lure you to the debris-covered
square and uncontrollably, you are drawn in…
Simcoe
County covers 1850 sq. miles of land. It is rich in
history and if one searches hard enough, one can find
many historical adventures beneath their feet –
literally. An afternoon of country driving can reveal
much to the history buff if they pack plenty of insect
repellent and a good pair of hiking boots. Considering
this, Simcoe Life went on a trek to bring you five
examples of historical interest that lie within and
along the borders of Simcoe County.
_______________________________________________________________
Copeland
Forest
The
area known today as Copeland Forest was at one time
a thriving lumber community known as Martinville.
During the 1830s, early settlers’ attempts at
farming the land at Copeland had been unsuccessful.
Soil composition was unsuitable for agriculture, being
either too sandy or swampy. Failed attempts at farming
paved the way to a long and successful lumber industry.
Hillsdale and Coldwater mills had already been processing
logs harvested from the area. In the early 1880’s
the Medonte Lumber Company had also built several
mills.
Arriving
in 1902, Jasper Martin and his sons purchased land
from William Cook of St. Catherines. Originally, from
Milton, the Martin family settled at Hillsdale, bringing
with them the experience of having operated a successful
gristmill. The development of the Martin sawmill in
what is now Copeland Forest resulted in the development
of a small community, complete with a post office,
boarding house, school house and small homes. Named
Martinville, it grew to include a spur rail line leading
from the Canadian Pacific Railway’s trans-Canada
line directly into the mill’s lumberyard. Eventually
a shingle mill had also opened.
The arrival of World War I and its after effects brought
Martinville to its demise. In 1922 the Martins sold
their operation and 3300 acres of land for $50 000
to Charles Ernest Copeland of Elmvale. With his sons
Lloyd, Arthur and Watson, Copeland breathed new life
into the old operation and sustained a profitable
business through the 1930’s depression. He recognized
the need for reforestation and planted 800 000 seedlings
in an effort replenish the depleting resource. The
death of Charles Copeland in 1934 left the thriving
operation in the hands of his boys, with Watson at
the lead. The Copelands continued to ship by rail
until after World War II, when trucks became their
main source of transport. In 1959, the original steam-powered
sawmill was destroyed by fire. The mill eventually
turned to from steam to diesel power. At peak efficiency
the sawmill had been sawing up to 10 000 board feet
of hardwood per day and twice that amount in softwood.
It had employed over 80 lumbermen.
Watson Copeland died in 1963, followed by his brother,
Arthur in 1964. Lloyd Copeland and his son John, third
generation, continued to manage the Martinville sawmill
until Copeland’s retirement in 1967. Watson’s
son Tom eventually left the operation in 1968, leaving
John Copeland to manage the mill.
With
trucks taking over the transportation sector of the
business, the CPR spur line carried its last load
out in 1973. Two years later in 1975, the Copeland
sawmill suffered a second fire. In 1978, John Copeland
sold the property to the provincial government. Today
it is used for non-consumptive recreation.
How
to Get There
From
Coldwater: Take Hwy. 400 South, to Exit
121 (Hwy. 93/Simcoe Road 93). Keep to the right –
this will lead you directly onto Simcoe Road 93. Once
you have driven over the Hwy. 400 overpass, turn left
onto Ingram/Resources Road. Drive approximately 5
km and you will arrive at the Copeland Forest Resources
Management Area.
From Barrie: Take Hwy. 400
North to Exit 121 (Hwy. 93/Simcoe Road 93). At the
stop sign, turn left. Turn left again onto Ingram/Resources
Road. Continue until you see the Copeland Forest Resources
Management Area sign.
What
You’ll See
Recreational
area, mountain bike trails and the still active CPR
line.
Ballycroy
Ballycroy
is a small community located along Hwy. 50, just off
Hwy. 9 West. Blink twice and you will miss the dirt
road that leads you to a handful of neatly kept houses.
Neatly kept would hardly describe Ballycroy in its
heyday. Starting with the arrival of Irish settler
William Beatty in 1826, Ballycroy grew to be a prosperous
mill town that supported a shingle and sawmill as
well as a flourmill. In 1850, the original mill suffered
a fire and was rebuilt several years later, in 1861.
Along with brothers Samuel and Henry, Beatty watched
the town grow to include two churches, a doctor, veterinarian,
blacksmith, post office and law office.
Again
along with success, came liquor. Ballycroy housed
its share of taverns, four to be exact. Many a night
of carousing and drunkenness led to brawls between
the Catholics and Protestants, which often lasted
for days. There were the Fehelys – Thomas and
John - owners of the infamous and rowdy Fehely Hotel/Bar.
In addition, there was Peter Small, son of an Irish
immigrant, born in Adjala Township – owner of
the town’s reputable dining and drinking hotel,
along with a general store, race track and millinery
shop. Reputable or rowdy, there was still the need
for a dance hall and meeting place. The upper floor
of McClelland’s general store, located across
from Small’s Hotel, served that need.
In
1875, fire destroyed Small’s Hotel. Reportedly,
three milliners living in the hotel perished in the
blaze. Two months later the building the Smalls were
temporarily occupying also suffered a fire. Again,
his family survived. Four years later, Small and his
family moved to Toronto, where he started another
hotel. According to a local resident, in 1996 a woman
again perished in a house fire that erupted next to
the original McClelland general store – coincidence?
As
was the case in many a thriving lumber community,
the re-routing of the railway was the beginning of
the end for Ballycroy. Eventually changes in road
routes meant bypass for Ballycroy – leaving
the post office to close its doors in 1951.
How
to Get There
From
Barrie: Take Hwy. 400 South. Exit at
Hwy. 9. Drive west toward Orangeville. Continue to
Hwy. 50. Turn right onto Hwy. 50. Approximately ½
km turn left onto Ballycroy Road.
What You’ll See
The
restored old McClelland General Store to your left;
to your right, an original street, now a grassy and
overgrown laneway (Pettit Lane); old stone ruins and
old shed hidden by thick overgrowth along Pettit Lane.
Cooper’s
Falls
Thomas and Emma Cooper arrived from England and began
their life together in Canada in 1864. After arriving
north of Washago from Toronto with their three children,
they lived a harsh existence through hunting, fishing
and planting what crops they had seed for. Naming
the little village after himself, Cooper built the
town’s sawmill which served the lumbermen arriving
to clear wood. The increase in population soon made
necessary the construction of a schoolhouse, followed
by a general store and later, a post office. By then
Cooper’s Falls had grown to include two churches,
Anglican and Methodist, as well as a cheese factory
and blacksmith.
Cooper’s distaste for the alcohol-induced behaviours
of the lumberjacks led him to speaking against the
evils of alcohol. The exploitation of lumber resources
combined with Cooper’s prohibition of alcohol
eventually had driven the lumbermen out. The declining
population led to the closure of the mill. Cooper’s
Falls had begun its degeneration, with the eventual
shutting down of the general store and post office
in 1968. The Coopers had nine children in total. Descendants
of the Cooper family still reside at Coopers Falls.
How
to Get There
From
Orillia: Take Hwy. 11 North. Drive past
Washago exit (Hwy. 169). Exit at Cooper’s Falls
Rd. (Simcoe County Rd. 52) and follow until it runs
into County 6. You will pass the two churches to your
left; continue until you reach the old gas pump on
the right hand side of the road.
What
You’ll See
General
store, vintage gas pump, old blacksmith’s shop.
Wilberforce
Settlement
Black
settlers began arriving at Oro Township in1819. In
1819, the concession line to the east of Hwy 93 (then
known as Penetanguishene Rd.) between the first and
second ranges of surveyed lots was known as Wilberforce
Street. Although remote, the area was not completely
savage and without settlement at the start of those
years. European settlers had already established their
fur trade routes. The military and missionaries also
had their foundations in and around North Simcoe.
There is recorded history of Black settlements already
in existence in other parts of Ontario at that time.
Southern Ontario had clusters of Black populace, arriving
as either freed or escaped slaves from the United
States through underground railroads. What set the
Wilberforce Settlement apart from the others was that
it was the only Black settlement in which the government
played a role. Black settlers together with members
of the Loyalist militia from the War of 1812 provided
the labour required for growing produce and clearing
the land – an important consideration for Canadian
troops protecting the Penetanguishene Rd. corridor
leading to Penetanguishene Harbour (Hwy. 93).
The
stimulus for the settling of Negro refugees (escaped
or freemen) came in the form of Crown land grants.
The acquisition of Crown land arrived from petitioning
the Crown first. The petitioner would then be issued
an “order in council” – the entitlement
to a Crown Grant. Upon receiving the entitlement,
the individual would then be assigned a specific piece
of land along with a “location ticket”.
The location ticket listed grant settlement duties:
the commitment to clearing assigned acreages of land,
clearing portions of roads adjoining lands and the
erection of a minimally sized house. Upon meeting
the conditions, and paying a fee, the individual acquired
title to the lands and a “patent” (deed)
from the Crown. Often this process spanned several
years.
With the movement towards the abolishment of slavery
gaining momentum, Blacks gained the benefits of mobility.
By 1833, the British Parliament issued an abolishment
of slavery to British and North American colonies
and the sporadic relocation of the Wilberforce settlers
had begun.
Remnants of the Wilberforce Settlement continue to
stand, in and around the junction of Old Barrie Road
and Line 3, Oro-Medonte. Exactly at the junction is
the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Oro. It
is believed that some of the older homes found along
Line 3 also had been occupied by the Wilberforce settlers.
How
to Get There
From
Barrie: Take Hwy. 400 North to Exit 121
(Hwy. 93/Simcoe Road 93). Keeping to the right, continue
driving along Simcoe Road 93 to Craighurst. Drive
through the set of lights and continue to the flashing
light at Dalston. Turn left. At Line 3 and Barrie
Road, the Black Church is on the corner, to your right.
What
You’ll See
African
Methodist Episcopal Church of Oro. Historic site monument.
Old homesteads along Line 3, both directions.
Osler
Castle
Remnants of grand stone archways and walls sit atop
a mound of earth, overlooking the ravine, now heavily
shrouded by trees and undergrowth. Located at Blue
Mountain near Collingwood, the Osler Castle remains
sit barely over the Simcoe/Grey county line.
Built
by prominent criminal lawyer Britton Bath Osler, founder
of Osler Hoskin and Harcourt law firm, the Osler Castle
was a testament of love, built in an attempt to make
Osler’s ailing wife more comfortable. Having
named her castle Kionontio, Petun Indian for “top
of the hill”, Caroline Osler spent only a few
summers enjoying the mountain air and beautiful panorama
from her home, succumbing to death just three years
after construction. Osler remarried and after a brief
period of residing in the castle, he died in 1901,
leaving the castle to deteriorate.
The land along with the castle remains were purchased
in 1982 by the Castle Glen Development Corporation.
The proposal to build a resort on the property is
still ongoing. Vandalism and theft threaten the remaining
stone structure. A barbwire fence protects the ruins
from intruders and it was made clear trespassers would
be prosecuted to the full extent of the law; all this
in an effort to preserve what is left of the frail
structure. This is private property and photo opportunities
for Simcoe Life Magazine were granted strictly through
requested permission. It is hoped one day this preserved
piece of history will be accessible for all to visit.
f Canada.
