The Founding of Port Elgin

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted June, 2005

Plaque Location

The County of Bruce
The Town of Saugeen Shores
In Port Elgin, on the west side of Goderich Street (Road 21)
almost 6 blocks north of Gustavus Street

Coordinates: N 44 26.522 W 81 23.068

Plaque Text

Port Elgin's development began when, in 1854, Benjamin Shantz, one of Saugeen Township's early settlers, acquired from George Butchart a sawmill on Mill Creek. Nearby he built a grist-mill and within three years a community of 250 people had developed around these mills. Stores, hotels and tanneries were constructed and in March, 1857, a village plot named Port Elgin was laid out. The enterprise of its businessmen, notably Henry Hilker, Samuel Bricker and John Stafford, contributed to the development of the settlement, which had a population of over 600 by 1867. The arrival of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway in 1872 further stimulated the growth of the community and it was incorporated as a Village in 1874 with a population of about 950.

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