Stirton

History

Stirton sprang to life as a crossroads hamlet in the early 1860s. By 1863, John Sanderson had opened a post office and other businesses began to move in. Stage coach service to nearby villages such as Drayton, Glen Annan and Hollen began in 1866, with the stages running on alternate days. However a much brighter future lay in store for Stirton.

The nearby Conestoga River offered an ideal locale for a successful mill operation. In 1867, Charles Hendry took advantage of the opportunity and opened a complex alongside the river, which included a flax mill and sawmill. Ludwig Brown and Henry Stricker followed with a tannery. With both the mills and tannery offering the prospect of steady employment, Stirton began to grow.

By 1871 Stirton’s population had grown to around 150, with the mills employing about 50 to 60 hands. The village was located at the junction of Peel and Maryborough Townships and had essentially developed in two sections, known as ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ Stirton. The mills were located in one half and the businesses in the other. The two sections were about a kilometre apart. The village included a hotel, owned by Martin Stribe, a shoemaker, John Debel, as well as a cabinetmaker, carpenter, wagon shop and harness maker. Irish born Samuel Crookshanks was the blacksmith and thirty year old A.H. Grant managed the flax mill. Mail deliveries took place daily. The 1871, Lovell’s directory praised the village as being “pleasant and attractive.”

Stirton’s first school was a small white brick building, built as early as 1854. Unfortunately they built the school on a sloped terrain which led to difficulties using the playground. A newer structure replaced it in 1899. They added a Methodist Church and parsonage some time during the 1880s.

Stirton was another of those classic examples of tiny villages doomed by the success of the railways. Without railway access, Stirton’s businesses could not compete and the village slowly shut down. The church lasted until 1932-33. They dismantled it sometime after that. The parsonage is now a private home. The school closed sometime between 1946-49 due to low attendance, but reopened in 1950. They installed hydro that same year.

The opening of the Conestoga Dam during the late 1950s flooded most of the original mill site. All that remains today are three original homes and the remains of a small cemetery. Sadly, due to deteriorating conditions, it was necessary to demolish the attractive old bow string bridge in 2002.