The Founding of Dresden

Photo by Alan L Brown - August, 2004

Photo from Google Street View ©2011 Google - January, 2011

Plaque Location

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent
In Dresden, on the south wall of a building at the northeast corner
of St. George Street (Road 21) and Main Street

Coordinates: N 42 35.414 W 82 10.763

Plaque Text

In 1846 Daniel van Allen, a Chatham merchant, laid out a town plot on land purchased from Jared Lindsley, the first settler (1825) on the site of Dresden. By 1849 the erection of a steam sawmill, and the operation of a grist-mill in the neighbouring Dawn Institute Settlement founded by Josiah Henson, provided the basis for a thriving community in this area. A post office named "Dresden" was opened in 1854. The region's timber resources and the navigation facilities afforded by the Sydenham River fostered industrial growth. A county by-law of 1871 incorporated Dresden as a village with a population of about 750. Ten years later it became a town.

Related Ontario plaque pages
The Dawn Settlement
Josiah Henson (1789-1883)

More
Information

More
Settlements

More
Black History

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