Dashwood, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Southwestern Ontario
Southwestern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, centred on the city of London. It extends north to south from the Bruce Peninsula on Lake Huron to the Lake Erie shoreline, and east to south-west roughly from Guelph to Windsor. The region had a population...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The former police village
Police village
A police village was a form of municipal government used in the province of Ontario, Canada, beginning in the early 19th century. It was used in cases where the finances or population of the area did not permit the creation of a village....
is located at the intersection of Bronson Line and Dashwood Road, on the boundary between the Municipality of Bluewater
Bluewater, Ontario
The Municipality of Bluewater is located in Huron County, Ontario, Canada. It was formed in 2001 when the Ontario Government instituted the amalgamation of municipalities throughout the province. Specifically, the former townships of Hay and Stanley were merged with the villages of Bayfield,...
and the Municipality of South Huron
South Huron, Ontario
South Huron is a municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the southern part of Huron County. It was formed by amalgamation of the townships of Stephen and Usborne with the Town of Exeter in 2001, in an Ontario-wide municipal restructuring imposed by the provincial...
. The community is situated approximately 50 kilometers north west of London
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
near the resort village of Grand Bend
Grand Bend, Ontario
Grand Bend, often referred to as simply "The Bend" or "GB," is a Southern Ontario community located on the shores of Lake Huron and a part of the municipality of Lambton Shores in the county of Lambton.Grand Bend is home to a variety of stores and eateries...
, which is located on the south east coast of Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
.
History
Dashwood began when the brothers Noah and Absalom Fried formerly of Blenheim TownshipBlandford-Blenheim, Ontario
Blandford-Blenheim is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Oxford County. The township had a population of 7,149 in the Canada 2006 Census.Its government consists of a mayor and four councillors...
in Oxford County
Oxford County, Ontario
Oxford County is a regional municipality and census division of the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Southern portion of the province. The regional seat is in Woodstock...
, resettled in the area in 1853. They first erected a saw mill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, followed shortly by a grain mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
, on the site of the future community serving the needs of the influx of mainly European settlers brought about by the local development of Canada Company
Canada Company
The Canada Company was a large private chartered British land development company, incorporated by an act of British parliament on July 27, 1825, to aid the colonization of Upper Canada. Canada Company assisted emigrants by providing good ships, low fares, implements and tools,and inexpensive land....
lands earlier in the century. The location of the initial development of the mills was intended to occur at Sarepta, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the present site of Dashwood on Dashwood Road. A change of circumstances brought about an alteration of the plans of the two brothers and lower cost land became available at the current site of the community. The name of the community changed from Friedsburg to Dashwood in December 1871, when a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
was opened, Noah Fried became the first postmaster. Although the subject of some debate Dashwood was likely named after Dashwood House, in London England, the headquarters in Britain of the once regionally important Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
. Peak economic activity occurred in Dashwood in the early to mid 20th century and at its height included a number of mills, hotels, general stores,a regionally large scale window manufacturing company and an assortment of shops and services geared to its rural surroundings.