The Founding of Parkhill

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted November, 2004

Plaque Location

The County of Middlesex
The Municipality of North Middlesex
In Parkhill, on the northwest corner of Main and King Streets

Coordinates: N 43 09.745 W 81 41.051

Plaque Text

The opening of a railway station near here in 1860 on the recently completed Grand Trunk line from Guelph to Sarnia provided the nucleus around which a community soon became established. A post-office named Westwood (renamed Swainby in 1861 and Park Hill in 1863) was opened that year. In 1861 a village plot was laid out by William Kelly. Growth was slow until 1865 when a bonus subscribed by the citizens induced John Harrison to build a steam-powered grist-mill. Other industries, including a brickyard and a foundry, soon followed, and by 1891 Parkhill was a thriving community of about 1500 people. It became an incorporated village on January 1, 1872, and a town fourteen years later.

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