September 10th, 2017:

Dorchester to Aylmer, Ontario – My Top 6 Picks

Dorchester to Aylmer, Ontario – My Top 6 Picks

Thames Centre is a municipality in Middlesex County located in southwestern Ontario a few kilometres east of London.  Communities in the township include: Avon, Belton, Cherry Grove, Crampton, Cobble Hill, Derwent, Devizes, Dorchester, Evelyn, Fanshawe Lake, Friendly Corners, Gladstone, Harrietsville, Kelly Station, Mossley, Nilestown, Oliver, Putnam, Salmonville, Silvermoon, Thorndale, Three Bridges, and Wellburn. Dorchester is the residential and commercial core of the township.

 

Mossley

Until 1840 the Mossley area was an untouched wilderness of pines, maples, and beeches.  The first settlers from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales worked hard to clear the land for farming. They came with few tools but great hope for a better way of life, and they prospered.  In the 1800s this area was known simply as “The Corners”. In 1865 John Henry Amos opened a general store and was the first postmaster.  The name Mossley was chosen from two family names, the Mossips and the Lees. Mossley had a hotel, a cheese factory, a harness repair shop, and there were dressmakers and music teachers.

 

Malahide Township was named for Malahide Castle in Malahide, Ireland, birthplace of land grant administrator Colonel Thomas Talbot in 1810. The township comprises the communities of Candyville, Crossley-Hunter, Copenhagen, Dunboyne, Fairview, Glencolin, Grovesend, Jaffa, Kingsmill, Lakeview, Little Aylmer, Luton, Lyons, Mile Corner, Mount Salem, Mount Vernon, Ormond Beach, Orwell, Port Bruce, Seville, Springfield, Summers Corners and Waneeta Beach.

Architectural Photos, Dorchester, Ontario
31 Mill Road, Dorchester – Mr. Cartwright’s stone house built in 1866 with river and field stones with eighteen inch thick walls – Georgian style. There are ten main rooms. There is a “widow’s walk” or belvedere on the roof with a view of the river from windows on all four sides.
Architectural Photos, Dorchester, Ontario
15 Bridge Street, Dorchester – The Signpost – Gothic Revival, verge board trim on gables
Architectural Photos, Dorchester, Ontario
4026 Hamilton Road, Dorchester – Edwardian with Italianate features, two-story bay window, pediment
Architectural Photos, Dorchester, Ontario
4088 Hamilton Road, Dorchester – Edwardian with two-and-a-half story tower-like bay
Architectural Photos, Harrietsville, Ontario
5391 Elgin Road – Harrietsville-Mossley United Church – former Methodist Church – 1896 – Gothic Revival
Architectural Photos, Port Bruce, Ontario
Port Bruce – #3237 – built in 1854