Royston
History

©Yvan Charbonneau
After lumbering began around the Magnetewan River in the early 1860’s, small frontier settlements quickly sprang up to serve the burgeoning industry. Post offices opened in small hamlets and villages, such as Magnetewan, Midlothian, Rock Hill, Starrat and Doe Lake.
They surveyed and settled the Nipissing Road under the Donaldson Colonization scheme and passed through the older villages of Magnetewan and Spence effectively linking the interior lands. The Magnetewan River developed into an important navigable waterway, which expanded from Ahmic Lake to Burk’s Falls, a total of around 51 kilometres.
Royston nestled between Starrat and Doe Lake and eventually supplanted both communities both in importance and population. Geographically the hamlet sat at the crossroads where the Royston Road (coming from the west), met with the Government Road (running north) and the Doe Lake Road (which ran south). However the community extended as far west as the Dan Mitchell’s farm, roughly halfway from Starrat. The northern boundary was north of the loop on the Magnetewan River, linked by a chain bridge. Keeping things simple, they set the southern boundary at the schoolhouse.
The first commercial enterprise to open was George Alexander’s store. In 1890 Alexander added a post office. Following the store was Orange Lodge #929 which opened its doors near the Starrat border in 1894. It operated for roughly a decade. By the 1890s, the community appeared quite prosperous. Many of the institutions saw upgrades to frame construction.
The first change was a new schoolhouse, S.S. #2 Ryerson, in 1891. It replaced the original schoolhouse, a leaky log shack, originally built in 1881. That same year they built a new Baptist Church. The Methodists followed suit in 1897, while the Presbyterians established a third church. The era of prosperity for Royston was short lived. Many left to fight in the First Great War and did not return, preferring Burk’s Falls or other larger centres instead.
The first casualty was the school, which closed around 1918. After that, they bused the children to the school in Burk’s Falls. There were still two general stores open in 1925, one owned by Art Alexander, and the other by George Todd. Alexander’s store was home to the post office. That lasted until 1923 with the arrival of rural mail delivery. Presbyterians and Methodists joined hands and formed the United Church, erecting yet another structure in 1925.
During the 1920s, the population gradually began to thin out in search of greener pastures. The hardship of the Great Depression in the 1930s accelerated the trend. They demolished the old Presbyterian Church in 1930. The United Church lasted until 1937. After it closed, the congregation auctioned off the lumber. The Baptist Church was the last to go, finally disbanding in 1943. The structure burnt down around 1952.
During the seventies, the last building that was home to the post office still stood. Two to three other structures were still in use. Near Younger’s Landing, some structures, shells and overgrown foundations continue to lurk about. Also remaining are foundations and some lumber from Shea’s Mill. The Doe Lake Road was realigned to the left of the hamlet’s site, where two to three homes were still occupied.