11 years ago
Howitt Pioneer Cemetery
Puslinch, Ontario
Puslinch, Ontario
Guelph, Ontario
Erin, Ontario
Puslinch, Ontario
Mapleton, Ontario
Recent status | Demolished |
Location # | 15298 |
This is one of the 80+ properties bought out by the province to build the new highway extension from Guelph to Kitchener. There were two houses on the property.
One house was 100+ years old and seems to have been empty for years and the other house was no more than 30 years old. I believe the family that owned the farm likely lived in the old house and then built a new house next to it and moved in, leaving the old house to sit vacant and in disrepair.
Behind the homes was a garage/toolshed and a large dairy barn with most equipment still present, which is not surpising as the owners probably only moved out 6m months before I visited. The newer house was empty, pretty boring and the basement was flooded. The older house was in rough shape but not so bad that we weren't able to explore. Since I was there last, at least the newer house has been demolished, though Im unsure about the rest of the structures.
*Update from Skye_Ann This house is known as the "Elderslie" house, it was built in 1863 by Thomas Hood. The land remained within the family for the majority of it's 153 years. It was expropriated for the Highway 7 expansion and promptly put up for sale by Transport Canada... They claim no successful proposals were made. Local historic supporters proposed an investigation to see if the property was suitable for a heritage designation (along with 2 others nearby), but city council denied the application stating "it would take too long, and thus further delay the expansion of Highway 7" the house was subsequently demolished in the winter of 2018 as a result.