Weekly newspapers in Wellington County have tended to downplay or ignore stories of a nature that…
Valuing Our History
A cluster of railway incidents in the summer of 1912
Train wrecks have always been a source of fascination to most people. Perhaps it is the scale of…
Robbers failed in 1947 attempt on Royal Bank in Grand Valley
Bank robberies have been comparatively rare in Wellington County’s history. Accounts of…
James Goldie: pioneer Guelph businessman died in 1912
The Goldie family, though not well known today, was a major player in the middle part of the Grand…
Royal Bank in Mount Forest was robbed in 1922
Two weeks ago this column featured a story about an unsuccessful bank robbery in Grand Valley in…
Great efforts were made to bring bank robber to trial
Last week’s column described a robbery at the Mount Forest’s Royal Bank branch on Dec.…
Elora man involved in major American bribery scandal
The McGowan name is largely unknown today in Wellington County, but a century ago that was not the…
16-year-old youth assisted cattle thief in 1902 spree
Back in 1901, a man named John O’Donnell rented a farm in Minto at Lot 5, Concession 12, in…
Push for municipal water for Erin village began in 1947
The construction and extension of municipal water supplies has been an issue for local councils for…
Erin council moved ahead very slowly with water system
Last week’s column traced the history of Erin’s water system up to a public meeting on…
Erin voted twice in 1950 – and defeated waterworks proposal
This is the conclusion of a three-part account of the proposed Erin water system between 1947 and…
A sad morality tale about liquor from a century ago
The period immediately before World War I saw the peak of temperance activity locally. For the…
Freight trains collided at Puslinch station in 1909
A couple of months ago this column described a cluster of railway accidents in Wellington County…
Martin Brothers of Mount Forest sold mill to conglomerate
During the first decade of the 20th century Canadian business experienced a period of…
Ice storms in 1959 created havoc in Wellington County
A major weather hazard during December is freezing rain. This column has recalled a number of them…