Rokeby

History

Photo of gate
Entrance to the former church grounds
©Jeri Danyleyko

Rokeby was a small post office located in Lanark County, South Sherbrooke Township about 10 kilometres east of Maberly. It got its start on April 4th, 1859 when John Campbell opened a small post office. Within a year Campbell resigned as postmaster and Alvah Adams took over the post office. Mail pickups and deliveries took place weekly.

Rokeby was a small place with an average population of between 20 and 30. The village was situated on Concession 9 in the area bounded by Lots 17 to 19. During the mid-1860s the village had a general store owned by William Bowles (also spelled Boles). Other residents included a blacksmith, John McKay, a weaver George Livingston, and John Greer, likely a farmer. There was a small Anglican Church and cemetery on the east side of the village at Lot 19. The nearest school was located one concession north on Lot 18, Concession 10.

Very little information is available on Rokeby. The post office closed in 1873, after a scant 14 years in operation. Once the post office closed, official record keeping on Rokeby ended. Nevertheless the small hamlet carried on for many years.

For a community with so little in the way of written history, Rokeby contains a remarkable number of vestiges. Following renovation, the general store is now a private home. The community contains a number of attractive log barns, sheds and other outbuildings, all well maintained and still in use.

The area where the church once stood displays a solemn air of dignity. A large hand-hewn wooden fence surrounds the site. The grounds inside remain well tended and it’s easy to discern the church foundations.

The cemetery was not so fortunate. Built on a rolling hillside northeast of the church, there’s been little care to the area following the demolition of the church. The cemetery is badly overgrown. It was classed as “abandoned” many years ago.

A number of rural residents still call the community home and maintain a strong sense of pride in their surroundings.

Scroll to Top