Top 3 Abandoned Places In Mapleton Township

There are so many abandoned places in Mapleton Township! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in Mapleton Township. Browse through all abandoned places in Mapleton Township

1. Hollen (ghost town)

Hollen is located in located in Maryborough Township., Wellington County. It began in 1850 when a man named Hugh Hollingshead built a grist and shingle mill along banks of Conestoga River.

The fertile land and river almost guaranteed an influx of prospective farmers to the area. In anticipation of the farmers arriving, Hollingshead laid out a town site consisting of 150 lots.

His ambition paid off. Within two years the town had grown to include a post office and general store. A second gristmill, sawmill and shingle factory were built by a Mr. George Henderson.

Post office/General Store

The post office opened on March 6, 1952 and was operated by a J. Hollen. There is some speculation as to whether the town was named after the postmaster or after Mr. Hollingshead. Other historians believe that Samuel Robinson was the first postmaster. The first item purchased from the store was an axe, a pound of tea and a bar of soap.

As the town(a)s population began to grow, Hollen required additional resources. A schoolhouse was built in 1854 and it(a)s first teacher would be a Miss Aaron Kells. Two more general stores opened in the 1860(a)s, operated by T. Thompson and son. A pot ashery was also built which made soap from lye.

Capt. Thomas Thompson took over the General Store store and Post Office in the 1860’s. His son, W. J. Thompson followed. James Alexander Brandon, a local miller, went on to look after the post office and grocery store around 1873 and remained there until he retired.

Churches

A key institution to any small town was that of the church. Until a church was built, the local school usually served as the meeting place for the town. It was used for music festivals, fairs and even funerals.

James Alexander Brandon served as the Township Justice of the Peace. He, along with his brother,Thomas E. Brandon, helped establish the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1862. It would later be renamed to Hollin Methodist Church. The church burned in 1915 and rebuilt within a year. A Presbyterian Church named Chalmers Presbyterian Church was built in 1867. The two congregations merged in 1925 to become the United Church.

Middle 1860(a)s

As stagecoach travel was rough and exhausting, passengers would often stay overnight. Two hotels were built to accomodate them, one owned by Charles Forest and the other owned by George Wilson.

On April 30th, 1866 the first daily stagecoach with mail arrived. It was driven by four houses. This event became the talk of the town as the entire town waited for the stage on this memorial day. The mail coach would provide continued ferrying between Hollen, Stirton, Alma, Elora and Guelph.

By 1874 the town had grown to a sizable town of approximately 400 residents.

The general store now had two telephone lines. One connected to nearby Drayon. The other line was referred to as a (a)squirrel line(a). The squirrel line was shared by six homes: Jim Cunningham, Nellie Rogers, Richard Armstrong and Henry Franklin, and the two lines at the store. Ed Close relayed messages from one line to the other.

In 1909 the lines from Drayton, Hollen and Moorefield were amalgamated to become the Union Telephone Company.

Additional businesses

John Brady owned a wood working shop and a carriage factory. Mr. Matheson owned a tailor shop and Joe Abbot owned a shoemaker shop.

All that was about to change in 1874 when the Wellington Grey and Bruce Railway came through nearby Drayton. While the farmers held on to their land, the small town was already doomed. By 1880 the population stood at approx. 500 but three years later it fell to 150. By 1960 it was no more than 20 residents.

The cemetery which was opened in 1852 can be found at Con. 6, Lot 17.

All thats left is the cemetery; the town is beautiful and the lakefront is all cottages. the location is hwy 9 west of Arthur to sideroad 15 go south to Hollen road. The cemetery is on the left just before the Hollen sign.

2. Teviotdale Farm

We found this enroute to Port Elgin. Quite a lage Farm house with silos beside the barn. Once beautiful in its time. Floors and ceiling were sagging so I did not venture upstairs. The fireplace in the living room was huge taking up an entire wall.

3. Walker Pioneer Cemetery

This pioneer cemetery is both closed and abandoned. It was a great explore and across a farmers field, carefully stepping between the rows, of course. There was a path partway then it petered out. I noticed a chain in some trees and headed for that. There were three small headstones[together] that were unreadable and from experience probably were of infants and maybe just a few weeks old. This area really should be bought by the county and maybe made bigger and maintained. The headstones are usually in one area for convience of maintenance and security of the headstones from weather,etc., but even this maintenance seems to be missed, so maybe this posting might bring this to light someday and action is taken by this county. There were no less then six churchs, 5 schools and of course a couple of cheese factories in this area in the 1880s. A J.Walker owned property in this area in the 1880s. An Alphonso Walker son of [eligible first letter but more then likely J.] Walkers headstone[2 yrs. old he looks like] lies here with a family that lost 5 kids in like a month. ..................................................................................................................UPDATE:>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Relatives in Vancouver, British Columbia have discovered their relatives here as this is the only reference to this cemetery online with mine and timo's GALLERY. They were very happy as they probably will never be out here. Their elderly relatives were elated. This is why I do this.................................................. The five children here died of diphtheria, a childhood illness in the throat. It is spread in the air[ cough, sneeze] or an object touched by the infected, so these kids did not stand a chance. The first known cure wasn't until 1891 when Emil Von Behring won the Nobel for medicine for his work on Diphtheria. Earliest known cases were 1613 in Spain. " The Year Of The Strangulations" . It tends to block airways, paralysis of the neck and heart failure if not treated. Diphtheria is still very much a problem today, mainly in poorer countries. .................................. Thanks Emily H. for this update and I will try to get any pictures, if they exist. The children here who died would have been her great aunts and uncles.