Alma, Ontario

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Coordinates: 43°43′49″N 80°30′08″W / 43.73028°N 80.50222°W / 43.73028; -80.50222
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Alma
Unincorporated rural community
EDT)
GNBC CodeFACPP[1]

Alma is an unincorporated rural community in Mapleton Township, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada.[1][2]

History

Pioneers began settling along the Elora Saugeen Road, which forms the main street of Alma, during the 1840s.[3]

Alexander MacCrea and his wife settled here in 1848, and built a store. The "MacCrae's Corners" post office was established in 1854, and MacCrae was postmaster.[4][5]

In 1854, the settlement's name was changed from MacCrae's Corners to "Alma", after the

Battle of Alma.[3]

James Ledingham and his family moved to Alma in 1864, and built a saw and chopping mill.[6]

In 1865, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church was established in Alma. The church moved to a new stone church in Alma in 1892.[3]

The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway built a line through Alma in 1870.[4] The line was eventually taken over by Canadian National Railway, and was abandoned in 1983.[7] The Alma railroad station has since been destroyed.[8]

After the railway was constructed, Alma became "a bustling service centre for the local settlers and travellers".[5] Alma was noted for having a post office, wagon maker, weaver, telegraph office, shoemaker, grist mill, several saw mills, several stores, three churches, and four hotels. In 1879, the population was 250.[5][9]

Wallace Cummings Park in Alma was constructed in 2003 on 25 ha (62 acres) of donated land. The park features a playground, walking trail, toboggan hill, picnic shelter, community hall, wetland boardwalk, and garden labyrinth.[10]

Education

Alma Public School, part of the Upper Grand District School Board, is located in Alma.[11]

Notable people

Gallery

  • Alma, 1910
    Alma, 1910
  • Houses on Peel Street, 1910
    Houses on Peel Street, 1910
  • Alma, 2017
    Alma, 2017
  • Historic locomotive near the former railroad station
    Historic locomotive near the former railroad station

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alma, Ontario.
  1. ^ a b "Alma". Natural Resources Canada. October 6, 2016.
  2. ^ "Mapleton". Statistics Canada. November 2, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "About". St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Alma". Rural Routes Ontario. March 29, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c Campbell, Jean (September 11, 2015). "Alma". Drayton Community News.
  6. ^ "Biographical Sketches of Early Settlers of Wellington County". Wellington County GenWeb. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  7. ^ "The Wellington, Grey & Bruce Railway". Trainweb. December 30, 1997.
  8. ISBN 9781459736818
    .
  9. ^ The County of Wellington Gazetteer and Directory for 1879-80. Armstrong & Delion. 1879. p. 89.
  10. ^ "Labyrinth & Memory Arboretum Project". Labyrinth Planning Committee. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  11. ^ "Alma Public School". Township of Mapleton. Retrieved April 16, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ Han, Peter (April 1, 2014). "Sent By God". Presbyterian Record.
  13. PMC 1562069
    .
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