The Eden Mills and District Community Club (EMDCC) will celebrate the village’s unique history with Eden Mills History Day, at the village hall on Feb. 24.
EMDCC president Chris Wilson said in a press release it is important to create a time and place to share collective stories and to make history come alive for all ages.
History day organizer Barb Marshall says she learned to love history through her grandfather, Norman Scott Marshall, who owned and operated Marshall’s General Store and Post Office for over 40 years (1926 to 1967).
“Grandpa instilled in us a passion for the history of the area and our pioneer roots, which brought the older buildings and people to life,” said Marshall.
Her family members are descendants of the first pioneers who settled in Nassagaweya Township. She leads the popular Jane’s Walk in the village, held the first weekend in May, and weaves stories from the past into the tour.
She says her brother Michael, now 58, is the only villager remaining who has spent his entire life there.
Linda Sword, of the Eden Mills Going Carbon Neutral group, said, “I think people love to know that people who are alive now connect with the deeper past – it’s the chain of being which can extend from today back 150 years. We can literally touch the past.”
At Eden Mills History Day various groups, families, historical societies and churches will display historical items and photos, including:
– the Wellington County Museum and Archives;
– Guelph-Eramosa councillor and heritage committee member Doug Breen;
– Cove Valley Farm;
– Eden Mills United and Presbyterian Churches; and
– local artists who support the history of the village (such as Elizabeth Cunningham, Janet Wilson and Don Kilby).
“I love the sense of place that local history gives us,” said Breen. “There’s something magical about standing on the exact spot where something happened years before … Can’t beat a good family history either – everybody’s got a story.”
Eden Mills History Day will be held from 1 to 4pm at the Eden Mills Hall (104 York St.).
Tea, coffee, juice and homemade baked goods will be offered for sale at the event. Donations are welcome, with proceeds going to Eden Mills community programs.
To reserve a table to show historical photos or objects including family genealogy, call Barb Marshall at 519-856-4463.
About Eden Mills
Nestled in the valley of the Eramosa River, Eden Mills, with a population of just 350, looks much like it did 100 years ago.
In the 1600s, it was the rich hunting and fishing grounds of Attawandaron natives.
The village, known as Kribs Mills was founded by the Kribs brothers in 1842, and renamed Eden Mills in 1846 by the new miller, Adam Argo and his wife, Eve.
For many years Eden Mills boasted a grist mill, an oatmeal mill and saw mills. There was also a blacksmith shop, taxidermist, two general stores and three gas stations. Legend has it that there was even a house of “ill repute.”
In the early 1930s, Eden Mills was a favourite cottage vacation destination, with a stop on the Toronto Suburban Railway that ran from Guelph to Toronto.
Many romances began on the popular wooden dance floors of the community hall and the hall at Camp Edgewood. Life in Eden in the ‘40s and ‘50s was idyllic and community focused. In winter, children spent their spare time skating on the mill pond and tobogganing down “killer” hill, and in summer, swimming in the pond and playing baseball.
Social life revolved around the two churches (United and Presbyterian), the local school (SS#11), the community hall and the softball diamond.
To this day, Eden Mills is remembered for its infamous, annual Halloween “burn the bridge” escapades. Women seldom worked outside the home but were active in the community, including the Eden Mills Women’s Institute.
Before email, the village post office and Norm’s Coffee Shop were the main places to exchange the News of the day.
