14 years ago
Marlbank Ghost Town
Tweed, Ontario
Tweed, Ontario
Hastings Highlands, Ontario
Centre Hastings, Ontario
Tweed, Ontario
Bancroft, Ontario
Recent status | Unknown |
Location # | 781 |
One of the many towns that sprang to life along the Ontario Government's Hastings colonization Road was that of Glanmire. The town originally went by the name of Jelly's Rapids, after Andrew Jelly who settled in the area in 1856. He ran the hotel and was the 1st reeve of Tudor Township. Glanmire is located right where the Old Hastings Rd. crosses the Beaver Creek's high and long waterfalls, hence the name "Jelly's Rapids".
The town once contained Saint Margaret's Anglican church (built 1887), a cemetery, a school, post office, homes and store.
The post office was operated by James Richardson (1858-1861), then took over by Andrew Jelly (1862-1866) and then Edward Tapp (1866-1869). For more postal master records see this link http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/post-offices/001001-119.01-e.php?&isn_id_nbr=1661&interval=24&&PHPSESSID=49nkum22clbmgkfadtdpa4dk91
The dedication of one mail carrier, Isaac Stymers, was impressive. He used to carry the mail by foot from Glanmire to Bancroft.
As with much of the land along the colonization road, the land was quite infertile and the town's days were numbered from the start. The post office closed in 1939. The church lasted a bit longer until the 1960's when it was demolished.
Today all that can be found are the steps which once lead to the church, the cemetery, 3 derilict wood structures, cedar fencing and lush forest. The school was removed south to Millbridge on the Norman property where it is now used for storage.
Glanmire is located 11 km north of Millbridge on the Old Hastings Colonization Road. According to some the Old Hastings Rd. is impassible from Glanmire north to Murphy Corners, however this is not the case as the road is quite well-maintained these days