Historic Hills
Dr. Algie Delivers a Jolt
Mar 23, 2011 |By the 1880s, poor sanitation had been identified as a major cause of disease and governments were taking action. Here in the hills, newly established health boards had a lot of catching up to do.
Was Christmas ever ‘Old-Fashioned’?
Nov 20, 2010 |Christmas was once a simple season of carolling and school concerts, of neighbourly greetings and family visits, of tinkling bells and sleigh rides in gently falling snow, all blessedly free of commercial pressure. Well, maybe.
When Local Government Ruled
Sep 13, 2010 |Before there were boards and commissions and tribunals and official plans, and before there were consultants and mission statements and surveys and regulations and codes, the local municipal council handled almost everything. And fast.
Prohibition pits “wet” vs “dry”
Jun 15, 2010 |In the 1880s, prohibitionists took the fight for liquor control to the voting booths of the nation. In the hills, choosing “wet” or “dry” became such a hot button that neighbours and whole communities were pulled in different directions.
A Tale of a Jail
Mar 21, 2010 |When it came into service in 1867, built on land donated by the Village of Brampton, Peel County jail was a grim edifice modelled on England’s notorious Newgate Prison.
The Bolton Kinsmen
Nov 15, 2009 |In the early spring of 1967, the Stanley Cup playoffs…held the attention of hockey fans everywhere in these hills. Except in Bolton.
The Story of a Mill
Sep 15, 2009 |Mono’s Sheldon Creek was the site of one of Ontario’s two longest-serving waterpowered mills.
Suffer the Little Children
Jun 18, 2009 |The settlers of these hills had fled wars and tyranny and repressive class system to seek a new life in a new world, but they were unable to escape the dreaded shadow of contagious disease, especially its grip on their children.
How Not to Rob a Bank: Shelburne’s First-ever Bank Robbery!
Mar 21, 2009 |Shelburne’s first-ever bank robbery began as a pretty scary affair, but in the hands of a bumbling stickup man it ended more like a gong show.
Medicinal Wonders?
Nov 18, 2008 |“Why Die a Lingering Death of Direful Diabetes? Dodd’s Kidney Pills Cure It!”
Natural Enemies: Horse vs Automobile
Sep 15, 2008 |Just over a century ago the horseless carriage chugged into these rural hills and ran head on into a horse-reliant culture. What began as a novelty soon became a nuisance, sparking a battle for supremacy on the roads.
Sodom and Gomorrah? Melancthon Township?
Jun 20, 2008 | | Back Issues | Departments | Heritage | In Every Issue | Summer 2008Screaming headlines in Toronto newspapers turned an 1897 trial in Shelburne into a Canada-wide sensation, painting Melancthon as a hotbed of arson, fraud, perjury and intimidation.