Altona, Ontario
Altona | |
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Unincorporated community | |
UTC−4 (EDT ) |
Altona is a
History
It was founded by ethnic Swiss-German Mennonites who had migrated from Pennsylvania in the United States. The first flour and saw mills in Altona were built by Abraham Reesor, son of Peter Reesor and a nephew to Abraham Stouffer, in 1850, on Lot 30, Concession 9, a short distance south of the Uxbridge-Pickering Townline.[2] In the same year, Joseph Monkhouse built a general store and William Cooper an inn.[3]
In 1852, the Altona Mennonite Meeting House (5475 Sideline 30, Pickering) was erected,[4] constructed by area Mennonite settlers. The bricks were made at the Cherrywood brick yard. Local families included the Barkeys, Reesors, Widemans, Nighswanders, Hoovers and Stouffers.[5] The first grave is dated 1835. The founder of Stouffville, Abraham Stouffer and his wife Elizabeth Reesor Stouffer, are buried here.[6]
The first schoolhouse was built in 1834; in 1856 there were 256 inhabitants, "unable to read and write, about 30%."[7] By 1869 the hamlet had 200 residents and a regular stage coach to Stouffville and Toronto.[8] In 1910 there was still a daily stage to Stouffville, but Altona's population had fallen to only 100 people.[9]
The churches, school, store (former hotel) and many homes remained into the 21st century, but all have been expropriated and most boarded up by the federal government for a proposed plan to build
References
- ^ Cf. Joseph Nighswander, A Brief History of Altona Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, Canadian-German Folklore: More Pioneer Hamlets of York 9 (1985), 21f.
- ^ Cf. J. Nighswander, A Brief History of Altona Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, Canadian-German Folklore: More Pioneer Hamlets of York 9 (1985), 21-28; also John W. Sabean's history of Altona: Historical Report: Reesor Mill House, Altona Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine (Pickering, 2005).
- ^ "Focus on Altona Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine," Pathmaster (Pickering Township Historical Society) 4, no. 3 & 4 (Spring/Summer 2002), 27.
- ^ Global Anabaptist Mennonite Online Encyclopedia, Altona Mennonite Meeting House.
- ^ Cf. William Robertson Wood, Past years in Pickering: Sketches of the history of the community Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine (Toronto, ON: W. Briggs, n.d.), 179, 239, 250, 272, 291. See also the 1877 map of Pickering Township with names of landowners, lots and concessions: Historical Atlas of Ontario County.
- ^ For names and photos of some of the headstones at the cemetery, cf. CanadaWebGen.org, Altona Mennonite Cemetery Archived July 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Cf. W.R. Wood, Past years in Pickering: sketches of the history of the community, 179.
- ^ H. McEvoy, ed., The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory (Toronto: Robertson and Cook, 1869), 25.
- ^ Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory, 1910-11, (Ingersoll, ON: Union Publishing, 1911), 17.
- ^ Cf. the photo essay by Paolo De Marchi, Altona: Abandoned Buildings of Durham
- ^ See picture of the historic "Barkey-O'Connor House Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine", PADA: Pickering-Ajax Digital Archive, accessed June 9, 2011.
- ^ Cf. Transport Canada, Plan Showing Pickering Airport Site; also Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Pickering Airport Draft Plan Report, 2004.
- ^ Transport Canada, News Release: "Transport Canada releases findings of the 2010 Pickering Lands Needs Assessment Study Archived 2011-11-02 at the Wayback Machine," July 11, 2011.
External links
- Altona (ghost town) info and photos
- Media related to Altona, Ontario at Wikimedia Commons