Whitfield (ghost town)

Whitfield is another ghost town written in Ron Brown(a)s books.

The British planned land grants by 1825 in Mulmur Township. Soon immigrants: Lloyd, Graham, Holmes and Whitely had settled the area by 1832. By 1854 the name Whitfield won out as the name of the post office run by Robert Campbell.

Between 1870- 1880 the population was 100 with 2 stores, a hotel/tavern, a tailor, wagonmaker, 2 carpenters, a cabinetmaker, shoemaker, 2 blacksmiths, a school, 2 churches, 2 sawmills, a quarry, a lime kiln and a brick maker. By 1890 the population stagnated and did not grow.

The post office lasted until 1914 when rural route delivery came to the village. The Methodist church was demolished in 2005, the school is now a home, and Christ Church, built lovingly by the residents in 1874, still has services in the summer. Most of the pioneers are buried here.

Most of the area has reverted back to farmland.

This info is available in the 1872 Gazatteer:

WHITEFIELD - A village on lot 18, centre road, Township of Mulmur,
about 40 miles from Barrie. The neighborhood was first settled
about the year 1832. Church of England, Canada Presbyterian and
Wesleyan churches in the vicinity. Population about 100.

Archer, James, carpenter } Henry, P. D., P.M.
Archer, William, carpenter } Laking, William, farmer
Bailey, John, cabinet maker } McCutcheon, David, farmer
Campbell, Hugh, teacher } Mews, Thomas, blacksmith
Davidson, John, farmer } Raeburn, Thomas, farmer
Dean, John, farmer } White, Thomas, shoemaker
Dorsey, Thos., wagon maker } White, Thomas, shoemaker
Ferris, Archibald, farmer } Williamson, Thomas, farmer
Henderson, David, farmer } Wilson, George, farmer
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