Hamlet celebrates 175 years of history

Posted By SHARON WEATHERALL

Posted 5 months ago

Duntroon area residents will be kickin' up their heels on Saturday -- and with very good reason.

The community and former Township of the Nottawasaga are celebrating 175 years in 12 hours. It's all about taking a trip back in time to one of Simcoe County's earliest settlements and there will be plenty of stories and memorabilia to share so everyone can learn more about the rich history of this unique area.

Jubilee committee member Gord Kemp says Sept. 12th is a party that's been several months in the planning. People began meeting prior to June to get an agenda together, and with the big date just a week-and-a-half away the list is impressive.

"A committee was set up and volunteers began popping out of the woodwork," said Kemp. "The most impressive thing is the entertainment line-up."

The entertainment starts at 1 p. m. on stage in Islay Park, and there will be a beer garden and a tea room as an homage to the Bowmore Tavern and The Scotch Corners Temperance Tea House that were once in Duntroon. There will also be a display of historical memorabilia in the Nottawasaga Hall.

"It's all playing on older themes and traditions from the past, he said. "We called for these types of items from the community and have had great response -- there is a lot of stuff and more coming.

Organizers expect 200-to-400 people to turn out.

"Anyone with ties to the area will be coming and they won't all be specifically from Duntroon," said Kemp, adding the celebration will be open for anyone who wants to drop by.

The afternoon festivities and entertainment are free.

Daytime entertainment includes Fran and Annalee Webster, Washboard Hank, the Highland Dancers, Josh Hackett, Beinn Gorm Highlanders, Romney Getty and Craig Smith. Fun and games will include hot air balloon rides, clowns, period costumes, dramatic horse and wagon rides featuring local actor Dean Hollin, Elephant Thoughts, and a short ceremony at 5 p. m.

There will be a charcoal barbecue roast beef dinner (Canadian Inside round) prepared by Chef Peter Johne of Duntroon, followed by a 'Good Ole Time Duntroon Dance' to end the day. The barbecue beef dinner will cost $15 per adult; $8 for children aged 12 and under, and kid under 4 are free. Tickets can be purchased for the dinner and a dance featuring The Weatherall's from Grey Bruce for $25 each. A highlight of the evening will be fireworks.

According to Jim Campbell, whose family's roots in the community date back 150 years, "Duntroon has a lot of good history going for it."

Campbell, a member of the Nottawasaga Community Hall, rhymes off some of the original businesses, including Hennessey's Garage, which was built in 1846 and is still in operation; across the road from it was Bowmore House, which later years became Swalm's Electric and Appliances, owned and operated by Jack Swalm who passed away a few years ago.

"Jack was an historian that knew everything about the area and his family dates back to the very first settlers," said Campbell..

While most communities formed around water and train depots in the mid-1800s, Duntroon is unusual because it pre-dates the railway and was founded as a declaration of the government of Upper Canada.

"It was sort of an experiment community where people were given five-acre lots to come here," said Campbell. "A survey was done of the town in 1833 before the towns of Collingwood and Stayner existed, and over the next few years Irish, German, Scottish and some English immigrants moved into the area. The majority of settlers were Scottish from the Island of Islay. "

In truth, Duntroon is a community that has gone backwards when it comes to population; over the years a busy, booming community has returned to a quiet rural hamlet that now draws people who love the quiet.

Campbell's General Store, a brick building on the south side of Simcoe Street (Highway 91), was constructed by William Campbell in 1882; he was the son of pioneer 'Paisley' John Campbell who came from Scotland in 1842. This building replaced his original store and home which was built in 1879 and destroyed by fire in 1881. The store was open six days a week until 11 p. m. at night, providing one-stop-shopping for residents and farmers and a place for community members who wanted to socialize. At that time 100-pound bags of sugar, flour and oats would be dumped into bins and sold by the pound in bags. The shelves were stocked with tea, coffee, tobacco, clothing materials, shovels and tools, kerosene, etc. There was a coal scale outside the store that was used to weigh wagons after loading up at the train station.

T he two-storey building on the

south-east corner of Highway 124 and #91 was known as Bowmore House and was originally a tavern built by John Kerr in 1855, and later sold to Captain Robert Harkness of the 72nd Highlanders (his rank before coming to Canada). According to early history notes, the Captain kept a 'good hotel' despite the absence of law and order; he would take down his sword and swing it over the heads of any culprits, threatening to go lower if they didn't stop the trouble -- and the peace was always restored.

In the fall the Bowmore House was usually filled with apple pickers, and it became a common stop for salesmen who serviced the area by horse and buggy. When the hotel business died out, the owner Hugh Carmichael sold the building in 1944 to Jack Swalm, who set up a hardware and small appliance business which expanded in the 1940s and '50s thanks to the demand for larger appliances and plumbing supplies. Later, after televisions first arrived on the scene, Swalm set up a set on site for the community to watch for the Queen's Coronation on CBC in 1952. There were four viewings between noon and 2 a. m.

'Duntroon' was named after a castle on Argylshire Scotland, but it was not the first name given to the settlement; there were several others, including the very first name, McNabb's Corners after an early tavern keeper. Apparently Mr. McNabb and his wife were their own 'best customers', and when his brother-in- law arrived one day to find the pair "not right" he dumped all the whiskey and brandy from the tavern onto the road which was being crossed at the time by a herd of pigs. The animals lapped of the puddles of booze and proceeded to put on quite a humorous show for the village people -- squealing and rolling about until they fell asleep.

Subsequent names for the village were Scotch Corners (1836) and Nottawasaga (1842). In 1857 the place was named Bowmore after Bowmore on Islay Island, and in 1864 it was renamed for the last time by the Presbyterian Minister John Campbell after Duntroon Castle on the stronghold of the Campbell Clan in the 1700s.

Duntroon was founded on Lot 25 Concession 8 and Lot 25 Concession 9, each consisting of 200 acres to be laid out in five-acre parcels for immigrants. The early history of the village has been documented over the past 150 years in three publications,The Outburst of the Iroquois, Let's Reminisce about Nottawasaga, andLet's Celebrate Nottawasaga's Sesquicentennial.

The Township of Nottawasaga's first municipal hall was built in Duntroon and elections for the township were held there. The first school in the township was built there and during the village's early history there could be found medical doctors, blacksmith's, a bank, two hotels, a photographer, a potash plant, a military drill shed, an enclosed skating rink, a train station, the annual township school fairs, a carpenter who built wagons, sleighs and buggies, a shoemaker, a furniture maker, a gristmill, general stores, a harness maker; the Great Northern Exhibition (GNE) even started there and later moved to Collingwood. Of course there were numerous churches.

In the latter part of the 1900s, a decline in activity and population of a once thriving early community became apparent, but some of the old buildings still exist and many descendents of those early pioneers have stayed in Duntroon and area. Traffic lights were installed in 2001 at the crossroads of Concession 124 and 91, due in most part to the closeness of Blue Mountain Ski Resort and the many gravel trucks running back and forth to the gravel quarry on Concession 91 west. In recent years the Duntroon Highlands Golf Course and Nordic Highlands Cross Country Ski facility on the 10th Line have introduced people to the area who would never have been aware of the Duntroon before.

(Information taken from complied notes by Vira Campbell for the Duntroon Women's Institute)

Jim Campbell says the celebration on Saturday will be two-fold. Not only will there be plenty of activities to celebrate the 175th Jubilee but the revitalization of Islay Park will also be officiated that day. This project involved a partnership of community sponsors, the Nottwasaga Community Hall Board and the Township of Clearview to reconstruct the existing park beside the Community Hall into a 48 car parking lot, ball diamond, soccer field and play area which should be complete in time for the Jubilee.

"The Park Revitalization Project began in fall 2008 during a meeting with (Clearview works director) Steve Sage to the find out how to begin the process, and he has been very helpful," said Campbell.

"The park was owned, cared for and insured by the Duntroon Women's Institute and they were assisted by a recreational committee. The ladies turned the land over to the township after the amalgamation (Stayner, Creemore, Sunnidale and Nottawasaga to Clearview Township) and disbanded as one of the oldest WI's in Ontario."

For information on Saturday's events (which take place rain of shine), call 445-9550.