Location
The County of Northumberland - Trent Hills
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Photographer
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More Information
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Posted
May 20, 2004
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Text from the Plaque
By 1825 James Crooks, a prominent entrepreneur and land speculator of West Flamborough, had acquired over 1,000 acres here at the rapids on the Trent River. He soon erected a small grist-mill but made no further improvements until the government began the canalization of the Trent waterway in 1837 and constructed a lock and dam at "Crooks Rapids". Crooks erected a new grist-mill and a sawmill and in 1839 surveyed a village plot. Few lots were sold and in 1851 the whole property was acquired by Henry Fowlds, a lumberman from Asphodel Township. Fowlds expanded the mills, began a steamship service and established several textile industries. Within 10 years the community, renamed Hastings, contained about 700 inhabitants. Hastings was incorporated as a village in 1874.
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