Vanished Villages of Elgin.

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Elgin County is a rural area in southwest Ontario, stretching inland from Lake Erie. Throughout the 1800s small villages formed there as services clustered together in response to the needs of farm families. A school was often the first community building, followed by a church or two, perhaps a blacksmith, and a general store. Then came a mill, a post office, even a tavern. A cemetery was inevitable. Today, those cemeteries are usually all that remain as evidence these villages once existed.

This local history encompasses the story of 60 former Elgin County villages and a way of life lost to improvements in transportation and the decrease in family farms as a source of employment. Most of the information included is from the 1800–1930 period. The work captures dates and notable events, specifics of buildings, organizations, and prominent families. There are accounts of fights, debates, raids during the War of 1812, horse theft, rum-running in the 1920s, even a ghost or two.

The usual church-school-mill scenario was expanded in some villages to include an additional industry such as a distillery, cooperage, vinegar works, broom maker, pottery, cheese factory, or stave mill. Others were home to pioneer businesses such as a tailor, shoemaker, barbershop, or tannery. A lucky few boasted a railway station or a hotel.

More than 70 illustrations—a mix of archival drawings and modern snapshots—supplement the detailed text. Postmarks are reproduced for those hamlets that had a post office. Township maps, excellent documentation of sources, a bibliography, and an index underline the professional quality of this valuable addition to the local history of the area and the social history of Ontario.