Fleetwood/Franklin-ghost towns

Fleetwood- is located in the City of Kawartha Lakes on the Fleetwood Rd. east of St. Mary(a)s Rd for 2 kms in the former Township of Manvers. It is due south of the ghost hamlet of Mount Horeb.

It was settled by Irish immigrants and the post office was named after a village in Ireland. The Staples family laid out the town(a)s streets and names. Streets included names like: Queen, Mill and Mount Fall.

There were 2 sawmills, 2 stores, the "Grandy" Tavern, a shoemaker, 2 blacksmiths, a Methodist Church, a cheese factoy and a school. The school, 2 homes and a hotel are all that remain today.

The first post office was opened in 1860 with Thos. Russell as postmaster and lasted until 1914 with William Bate as postmaster. 1914 marked the start of Canada Post(a)s rural route delivery to the area.

By 1880 the village had a population of 60, and by 1890 100 people lived within its confines.

Unfortunately, the railways past Fleetwood by in the 1870(a)s, and the mills burned in the 1880(a)s. The store lasted until 1935, the church until 1947 and the school a bit after that.

The railway did come just east of Fleetwood in 1910 and created "Fleetwood Station", but things were in decline by that point. The tracks were removed in the 1980(a)s but you can still see the lines beside Fleetwood Creek.

Franklin- is located just east of Fleetwod Station on the highway. It is a railway ghost town. At one time a railway from Colborne went right over Rice Lake at Harwood. The waves on the lake destroyed the causeway. A competitor railway ran from Port Hope to Lindsay in 1858 and one station that popped up on this line was Franklin, named after the sawmill owner Frank Lyn. It had 3 streets (though the original drawing plans were for 6). It had 2 stores, blacksmith, post office (1st postmaster: William Maguire), gristmill, grain elevator, cattle yards, a hotel and 12 homes. By 1912 the CPR came to Fleetwood Station and by that time Franklin went bust. Only a few newer homes remain on the location of once thriving community.