The Founding of Parkhill

Photo by Alan L Brown - November 4, 2004

Plaque Location

The County of Middlesex
The Municipality of North Middlesex
In Parkhill, on the NW corner of Main Street and King Street

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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