Epping

History

In the mid-1850s waves of Scottish settlers, attracted by offers of cheap or free land, arrived to build new and potentially more prosperous lives in the vast Canadian wilderness. Rugged and hardworking, they quickly established farms, constructed mills, opened small businesses and built little hamlets to service their needs.

Epping was one of many tiny crossroads hamlets but it was certainly one of more attractive spots to set up shop. Compared to other locations, the area was positively beautiful. Sitting on top of a hill, overlooking the Beaver Valley with its lushly fertile lands, the view from above was a patchwork of highly picturesque colours.

Epping had the distinction of being the first community in Grey County to establish a post office. John Benson set up the post office in his home in 1858. Most likely, it was a family affair. Benson’s original route ran from Meaford to Epping, with a later expansion to Flesherton. The round trip journey took two days on horseback.

The area had a school sometime before 1864. The original school was SS No. 7, Eupharasia. It was a frame building, designed to accommodate an average of 25 students and equipped with maps. The original school was a frame building, designed to accommodate an average of 25 students and equipped with maps. Susan Johnston was the teacher in 1864. The village also included a small frame Wesleyan Methodist church.

By the late 1860s, the post office had moved to James Marshall’s store. The village also included a shoemaker, S. Piper. All things considered, with a population of only around 50, Epping offered very little beyond a basic church, school and store. It’s important to realize farming was and still is the principal occupation in the area. Farmland priced at $20 to $30 per acre was abundantly available.

By the mid-1880s Epping had gained an Anglican church. That seemed like a good opportunity for the Wesleyan congregation to update their old frame church. As a result, in 1887 they replaced it with a handsome new brick structure known as the Mount Hope Methodist Church. There were also a number of new tradesmen that included two carpenters, George Armstrong and James Clayson and a mason, James Trickey. Matthewson and Wyvill provided blacksmith services. Thomas Jordan, who had taken over the post office in 1876, turned the store and postal duties over to his wife, Selena. Robert Gilray was the local Justice of Peace.

With the approach of the 20th century, the era of the crossroads hamlet was drawing to a close. Epping was never large and its average population hovered at around 50. Increasingly as roads improved and transportation became easier, the larger communities were better able to accommodate the needs of the still largely rural population and small places like Epping slowly began to wither away and die. The post office shut down in 1921. When last seen, the only building still standing was the Mount Hope Methodist Church, shut down and boarded up. The remainder of the area is largely farmland.