Murphy’s Corner
Introduction
©Susan Foster
Murphy’s Corner was one of several failed settlements located on the Hastings Colonization Road. For a time it served a brief but important function as a mill town for the burgeoning lumber industry.
Murphy’s Corner was first settled in the 1850s. It began with a small sawmill. By 1870 it included a school and a church. Murphy’s Corner was on the mail route that travelled through Glanmire but it never had a post office of its own.
After the Central Ontario Railway arrived around 1883, the Hastings Road began to fall into disuse. From the outset the road had been poorly built and suffered from lack of maintenance and improvements. With road traffic gone, settlers began to abandon their lands in search of better opportunities. Consequently small settlements like Murphy’s Corner began to die.
Today Murphy’s Corner still has a few relics left to show. The original Murphy home still stands. There is also an old gas station that closed at least 40 years ago. Learn more
How to get there
Murphy Corners is on North Steenburg Lake Rd in Hastings County. Turn west from Hwy. 62 and follow the road around the lake until you reach the junction of the Old Hastings Road.
View Ontario Ghost Town Map in a larger map
Nearby centre: Hastings Village, 8 kilometres
Please note: these maps are generated by Google. We have no control over the contents. Incorrect street data and/or similar problems must be reported directly to Google. For detailed information on roads, please consult a regular road map.