Campania

History

Campania was a tiny village located in Amaranth Township in Dufferin County. Amaranth Township was first settled between 1845 – 65. At that time, it was still part of Wellington County. That changed in 1881, with the formation of Dufferin County. Amaranth, as a well-established and prosperous farming area, was an important component of the new county. The land was flat and extremely arable.

Campania became an official community once John Davis opened a post office in February 1894. Davis picked up the mail three times weekly from Crombie’s station. Davis’s wife reportedly chose Campania’s unusual name, Italian in origin. Her inspiration supposedly came from the book, The Last Days of Pompeii which she was reading at the time..

During the early days Campania boasted all the major institutions. The Campania Orange Lodge No. 433 received its warrant in 10-2. In November of that same year a meeting took place at the Bowes schoolhouse, located on Concession 9. Members agreed to pay rental fees of $6 per year for use of the building. Original members included George and William Bennett, Archibald and Harold Bowes, Robert McConachie and James Miller. By 1905 the schoolhouse had closed. The lodge purchased the building and moved it one concession east to a lot donated by John Lang Sr., at a cost of $50. Lang also served as Campania’s postmaster from 1901 to 1912.

Campania’s businesses were all farm-based and included a sawmill, run by William Bishop and later Thomas Morrison, a blacksmith, Joseph Rayfield and apiaries, run by James Bowes. By the early 1900s, there was a population of around 50.

In 1901 the Reverends E.J. Adams and John Coulter held an open air meeting to determine whether there was interest in establishing a Methodist church. The meeting was incredibly successful. As a result, the community members decided to erect a church as soon as possible. A Mr. Finlay donated 3/4 of an acre of land for construction of the church, with labour and materials coming from the surrounding community. The church opened in 1902. As a result of the enthusiastic involvement of everyone, the church not only opened debt free, it actually had a surplus balance. The involvement continued with the formation of a Ladies Aid Society. In 1925 the church became part of the United Church under the Camilla charge.

However on the downside, things were definitely beginning to slide in Campania. The post office closed in 1912 following the arrival of rural mail delivery. Membership in the Orange Lodge, which stood at 83 in 1915, began to fall off largely as result of general migration to the western provinces. The lodge amalgamated with the Shelburne lodge in 1945. The Women’s Institute eventually purchased the old lodge in 1947.

The church lasted until 1960. Sometime after that the old lodge burned. With the church building now available and the Women’s Institute in need of a new home, they were able to purchase the former church for $1. The old church is now privately owned and used for storage. Other than a few surrounding rural and farm homes, little remains of Campania.