Historical Plaques of |
Historical Plaques of |
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1832 An Act of the legislature of Upper Canada in 1831 named Prince Edward County a separate judicial district. Land for a court-house in Picton was given by the Rev. William Macauley and construction began late in 1832. Two years later in this fine structure built in the Greek Revival style, the first courts of quarter session of the new District were held. John A. Macdonald, later a father of confederation and Canada’s first prime minister, practised in this court-room and successfully defended himself against an indictment for assault occasioned by a practical joke. Additions were made in 1861, but its main block is one of the province’s oldest remaining public buildings. |
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1794 - 1874 In 1803 William Macauley, son of a United Empire Loyalist, received a crown grant of some 400 acres of land in this vicinity. Born in Kingston, Macauley was educated under the Rev. John Strachan and at Oxford University. Ordained in 1818, he used his own funds to finance the construction of this church, St. Mary Magdalene, which began in 1825. Macauley also donated land for the District court-house and gaol. The resultant settlement, which through his influence was named Picton, after Sir Thomas Picton, a distinguished British soldier, was incorporated with the adjacent community of Hallowell in 1837. Macauley is buried in this churchyard. |
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THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE BUILT C. 1825 MACAULEY HOUSE BUILT C. 1830 The old church of St. Mary Magdalene and its rectory were built by the Rev. William Macauley on Land he received as a crown grant. When the congregation moved to a new building, they continued to maintain the old church until deeding it to the County of Prince Edward for a county museum which was established in 1973. |
In 1824, the first Methodist "Canada Conference", which resulted in the separation of the Canadian and U.S. churches, was held in a recently completed frame chapel that originally stood on this site. Built by a congregation that had been established in 1793 by Darius Dunham, an itinerant preacher from the U.S. and led by a local settler, Andrew Johnson, it was also the site for a meeting in 1831 that settled the location of a Methodist "Seminary of Learning" at Cobourg. Named the "Upper Canada Academy", this institution later developed into the present Victoria University. The present church erected in 1898, is the third to stand on this site. |
Here on a secure harbour at the head of Picton Bay, several roads converged during the 1790’s, including a portage to Lake Ontario. It thus became a natural shipping and distribution centre for the peninsula and by 1811 a small community had been well established. This settlement, named "Hallowell", after a Loyalist from Massachusetts, grew rapidly after 1818 when the use of steamers made the harbour more accessible. In 1823-25 the Reverend William Macauley laid out an adjacent village site which he named "Picton". The latter became the judicial and administrative center of the District of Prince Edward in 1831. The two communities amalgamated in 1837 and were incorporated as the Town of Picton. |
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BUILT c. 1887 In 1851, an exhibition opened in London, England at Hyde Park in celebration of the world’s new technological age. The centre piece of this exhibition was an enormous building designed by Lord Joseph Paxton constructed of iron and glass and covering nineteen acres. The structure was appropriately named the Crystal Palace. The concept of the Crystal Palace was readily embraced by North Americans following 1851 and smaller hybrid replicas became common additions to agricultural fairs throughout both Canada and the United States. Constructed in 1887 by Frank T. Wright, a local building contractor, the Crystal Palace located on this site is, today, the only original structure of its kind remaining on the continent. This unique, historically and architecturally significant building was carefully restored over a six year period from 1990 thru 1996 with the assistance of the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the County of Prince Edward and donations from members of the community. Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on June 15th, 1997. THE CORPORATION OF THE COUNTY OF PRINCE EDWARD CW |
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1809 This church, formerly known as the "Old Chapel", was built on land donated by Stephen Conger, a Loyalist from New Jersey, who had settled with his family in Hallowell Township in 1787. Commenced in 1809, it was the first Methodist church in Prince Edward County and one of the earliest in Upper Canada. Built by William Moore and financed by Public subscription, it has been maintained as a place of worship for a longer period than any other church of Methodist origin in Ontario. |
Built before 1839, this home, a fine example of "Loyalist Neo-Classical" architecture, was the main building of the West Lake Boarding School between 1841 and 1865. The first seminary in Canada of the Society of Friends, this institution was opened as a girls’ school in 1841 and, with the completion of a frame structure for boys to the east, the school was in full operation in 1842. Thomas Clarke, a local Quaker, assisted by his wife, was the first Superintendent. By 1854 the school had a total registration of 110 pupils of whom 47 were girls and 63 boys. The school ceased operations in 1865 and was sold in 1869. |
According to tradition, Daniel Reynolds, a fur trader and trapper from upstate New York, was the first white settler in this area. In 1795, when he received the crown land grant on which present day Wellington is situated, he may already have been a squatter here. Reynolds befriended local Indians and with their help erected a stone house by the lake. Built in stages, the existing structure dates from the early 19th century and shows evidence of pre-Revolutionary Hudson Valley Dutch design. |
In 1668 Claude Trouvé and François de Fénelon, Sulpician priests from France, established this mission to serve Iroquois Indians on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Kenté, the Cayuga Village which had requested the missionaries, became the mission’s centre. Buildings were erected at this village, which was probably located in the Consecon area, and livestock was brought from Ville-Marie (Montreal). Under Abbé Trouvé’s direction, various resident Sulpicians served the mission, but from 1675 their activities were largely confined to the village centre. An early outpost of French influence in the lower Great Lakes region, the mission was abandoned in 1680 as a result of the moving of the Cayugas, heavy maintenance costs, and the growth of Fort Frontenac as a major post. Ministry of Culture and Recreation |
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COUNTY REGISTRY OFFICE BUILT 1871 SHIRE HALL BUILT 1874 Prior to the construction of the Shire Hall in 1874 the Prince Edward County Council met in the Court House on Union Street and the administration offices were in rented space scattered throughout the Town of Picton. |
Following the American Revolution, Marysburgh Township was established for the settlement of Loyalists and discharged soldiers of regular regiments. Surveyed in 1784 by the Honourable John Collins, Deputy Surveyor-General, the township was named in honour of Princess Mary, a daughter of King George III. Among its earliest settlers was a small group of disbanded German mercenaries under Baron von Reitzenstein. By October, 1784, this party, numbering about 40 persons, had settled in this vicinity and begun to clear and cultivate the land. Shortly after, they erected a log chapel just west of here, and were ministered to by Lutheran missionaries. This was one of the earliest German-speaking groups to settle in Ontario. |
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FAIRGROUNDS Formed in 1831 to promote better methods of farming, the Prince Edward County Agricultural Society held its first fair in 1836. This annual event quickly developed into one of the leading county fairs in the province, attracting hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of spectators. The business and social significance of the fair justified substantial investment in buildings. The Crystal Palace (1890) is a rare surviving example of a style of exhibition hall popular in the late nineteenth century. It is apart of a well-preserved complex of fair buildings that includes the Grandstand, Fruit Building, and the Old Boys Memorial Entrance and Ticket Booth. an agency of the Government of Ontario |
Born near Cobourg of Methodist parents, Letitia Youmans, née Creighton, was educated at local schools and at Burlington Ladies’ Academy. In 1849 she moved to Picton and taught briefly at a girls’ school. Deeply religious and believing that a well-ordered Christian family was fundamental to a prosperous moral society, she viewed with alarm the threat presented to this ideal by intemperance. She became active in temperance reform and in 1874 formed a “Woman’s Christian Temperance Union” in Picton. Quickly becoming a leader in women’s agitation for prohibitory legislation, she travelled extensively, organizing “unions” throughout Canada. Letitia Youmans was the first president of the W.C.T.U. of Ontario (1877-82) and of the Dominion organization (1883-89). She died at Toronto and was buried in this cemetery. Ministry of Colleges and Universities |
John A. Macdonald (1815-1891), who became Canada’s first prime minister at Confederation, began the study of law in 1830 under George Mackenzie, a prominent Kingston lawyer. Three years later he came to Hallowell (now Picton) to manage the law practice of his cousin, Lowther P. Macpherson, who was in ill-health. During his stay here, Macdonald became the first secretary of the Prince Edward Young Men’s Society in 1834 and servd as secretary of the Prince Edward District School Board. The latter position constituted his earliest experience in the field of public administration. Macdonald returned to Kingston in the summer of 1835 where he set up his own law practice. |
Born and brought up on this property, purchased by his grandfather Levi Roblin in 1821, Rodman Roblin moved to Fort Garry (Winnipeg) in 1877. Elected as an Idependent member to the Manitoba legislature in 1888, he was defeated in 1892. Roblin was re-elected in 1896 after joining the Conservatives, and that year became their provincial leader. The Conservatives were victorious in 1899 and Roblin succeeded H. J. Macdonald in October, 1900, as premier of Manitoba. His administration, 1900-1915, promoted the western grain trade, encouraged railway construction and by adding large northern territories more than doubled the size of the province. An outstanding leader in Manitoba's formative years, Roblin was knighted in 1912. |
