A Chronology
Settlement, Loyalists and the Origin Of Newcastle in Upper Canada
1792-Lt. Gov. of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe issues proclamation ordering building of roads and surveying
1792-Clarke Township is surveyed and named by surveyor Augustus Jones
1796- Bates and Lovekin families arrive in Clarke Township near Wilmot Creek.
1798- The Robert Baldwin family arrive at Bond Head
1804-HMS Speedy sinks near the new town of Newcastle (near Brighton) scuttling plans to establish Newcastle there.
War of 1812 and The Family Compact
1816- 6 families were living in the village
1819-Asa E. Walbridge builds home on King East
1824-Rev. Anson Green sets up first Methodist Congregation at Walbridge house.
1833- village called Crandell’s Corners
1835- First store in Newcastle owned by E. Shelly (Can. Statesman article July,1956)
1837-Anglican church built west of Newcastle called Trinity Church
1838- Bond Head Harbour Company officially incorporated
Union of the Canada's (Canada East and West) Responsible Government
1841-Village named Newcastle from Crandell’s Corners
1841-Village lots surveyed by J.K. Roache from Port Hope (from Dodds 1880 Directory)
1843-First Post Office in Newcastle Established- John Short, Postmaster (Dodds 1880 Directory)
1845- Newcastle has 300 residents
1846- Construction of new Methodist Church begins at Church & Emily Streets
1846-Newcastle Lodge of the Ancient Order of Free Masons was formed in Newcastle
1847- Daniel Massey arrives in Bond Head and Purchases Richard Vaughan’s foundry
1847-A lighthouse is established at the end of the Bond Head pier on Lake Ontario
1847-A frame Town Hall building erected and used for township meetings and Divisional Courts
1848- Daniel Massey moves his business to a new factory at King and Beaver
1851-Population of Newcastle and Bond Head is 850
1851- Construction of Methodist Church is completed
1851-Newcastle & Bond Head are amalgamated by proclamation and harbour changes its name to Port of Newcastle
1852-Annual Clarke Agricultural Fair is held every other year at Fairgrounds in Newcastle
1854-Northrop & Lyman Co.Ltd -a patent medicine company was established -made “The Canadian Pain Destroyer”
1856- July 1st- Village offically incorporated
1856- October 27th- first train passed through Newcastle on Grand Trunk Railway
1856- Daniel Massey Dies
1857-New Anglican Church called St. George’s built on Mill Street South
1857- Newcastle Recorder-a weekly paper printed by William Alvey Powers-Editor and Publisher
1859-Dr. Stephen Chandler establishes Canada’s first Dental Supply business-Canadian Dental Depot in Newcastle
1860-Samuel Wilmot began experimenting with raising trout, salmon & whitefish
1861-Population 1029
1862- Charles Brent-later Bishop Brent- is born just west of Newcastle
1864-Massey Manufacturing burns down but completely re-built
1865- Joseph Atkinson-founder of what is now the Toronto Star is born east of Newcastle
Confederation and The Dominion of Canada
1867-Methodist Church-now called Newcastle United Church is built on Mill at Emily.
1871- Population of Newcastle is 1100
1873-Last year of Clarke Agricultural Fair in Newcastle
1874-Northrop & Lyman Co. Ltd.-patent medicine manufacturers move to Toronto
1877-Dec. 20th fire destoys buildings on main street-Royal Hotel and Masonic Lodge destroyed ( Can. Statesman)
1877-Presbyterian Church opens on Church St. under Rev. A.A. Drummond
1879- Massey Manufacturing moves to Toronto
1880- Newcastle Woolen Mills burns down on Toronto Street
1881- Population of Newcastle 1000
1882- Telephone service comes to Newcastle
1884-Dr. Alfred Farncomb establishes his medical practice in Newcastle
1891- Population 780
1896- January 22- a Major fire on south side of King Street destroys business’ between Mill & Churchn (Can. Statesman)
1896-February-another major fire destroys business’ on the north west corner of Mill and King- the Chandler Block
Economic Growth and The Immigration Boom of the Edwardian Era (1901-1914)
1897- New Public and High School built on the east side of Beaver Street south of Robert.
1897- Electrical Power came to Newcastle from Wilmot Creek by Belmont Electric Works-dusk to midnight(I have a newspaper article on this from 1960) Outlines the evolution
1897-Newcastle Times newspaper published and edited by George Bell in Newcastle
1900-Samuel Bonathan opens a tin shop on the south side of King just east of Mill
1900-St. John the Baptist Catholic church built and opened on Beaver at Emily
1901- Population 650
1903- The Elmhurst Hotel -first building with running water
1906-Passenger Ship “Erindale” catches fire and sinks at Bond Head burning the west pier
1911- 24 hour Electrical service-Seymour Light and Power Company
1911- Newcastle Population- 655
World War 1
1914-Wilmot Fish Hatchery closes
1914-Newcastle Horticultural Society Created with Dr. J. Butler as President (Newcastle Hort. Society 2005 Yearbook)
1916- J. Anderson Smith purchases the old Massey Factory and makes silverware and jewelry boxes there
1919- Bell Telephone purchases the Coulson Newcastle Phone company.
1921-Population 559
1922-Thomas Montague lays cornerstone of Newcastle Community Hall (Out of the Mists)
1923-Newcastle Community Hall is built- gift of Chester Massey (Out of the Mists)
1923- John “Jack” Garrod becomes the Chief Constable of Newcastle (Policing in Newcastle article Myno Van Dyke author)
1924-100th anniversay of Methodism in Newcastle (I have the booklet - pictures of Wallbridge home Anson Green and Asa Wallbridge are very good)
1925- Edwin Hoar builds an automotive repair garage at King and Beaver
1926-Benefactor to Newcastle Chester Massey Dies
1929- Highway 2 (King Ave.) is paved through Newcastle (Eastern Clarke Twp)
1929-Population- 560
1931- Population 660
1938-Newcastle Dairy is established by Reg LeGresley on Mill St. South
1940- Fisher’s Store (built in 1876) on King East burns down (Can. Statesman Jan. 25/40)
1941- Population 742
World War 2
Post War Boom
1947-Newcastle Lions Club started when 11Newcastle men branched off from the Bowmanville Lions Club
1948- Newcastle News started with Gordon Agnew as editor and manager
1948- Joseph E. Atkinson dies
1949- Arthur Randall becames the Chief Constable of Newcastle
1951-Dial phone service comes to Newcastle
1951- Population 958
1951-Newcastle indoor skating / Hockey arena opened - natural ice only
1951-Durham Apple Storage Plant Opened by M.P. John James
1952 New Druggist Lorne Johnson comes to Newcastle
1954-The Woo family open a restaurant called “News Lunch” on the north side of King east of Mill-named News because ithe News Office had been there (Helen Schmid info)
1955-Newcastle gets new doctor -- DR. L. S. Miklos
1956- Newcastle Dairy sold to Bowmanville’s Glen Rae Dairy
1956- July 1st weekend- Centennial Celebrations
1956-Newcastle population about 1000
1957-Woodland Products begun by Ross Cobbledick and Len Vivian on Toronto Street (from H. Schmid)
1958-Former residence of Dr. Robert McIntosh becomes the Nel- Gor Castle Nursing Home on King West
1958-Ray & Mabel Goode purchased Harvey Bonathan’s hardware store. Closed April 1982 (from H. Schmid)
1958-Brenton Rickard opens a plumbing, heating and laundromat business at King and Beaver
1959-Charlie Glanville starts a Taxi Business (Helen Schmid Archives)
1960- June 30th Hwy 401 completed through Newcastle (A. Burley Eastern Clarke)
1960- Station Hotel on Toronto Street destroyed by fire
1960-Council approves subdivison 67 homes -- bounded by King, Arthur and Andrew
1961-Municipal water supply comes to the village
1961-Population 1272
1962-Clarke High School opens on Hwy 115
1963-Unveiling of a Plaque on the Pearce property marking the Baldwin homestead
1963-Cenotaph unveiled
1964- CPR station on Mill Street torn down
1964- Weyrich Wood Specialties on King closes their business
1965-Glanville Taxi closes down (Helen Schmid Archives)
1965- Newcastle Reporter Newspaper started by Gordon C. Dancey (I have a copy of the first issue Sept 16th)
1966-Ceresdale Plant Opens Operated by Garnet Rickard and sons
1968- Grand Trunk Railway Station (later CNR) on Toronto Street torn down
1968-Municipal Sewer system comes to the village
1968- O.P.P. detachment completed and opened on Mill St. south of Hwy 401
1969-Newcastle Baptist Church is opened on Mill St. North-the building was moved from Oshawa
1970- Newcastle Reporter sold to Ken Lyall
1970-The Village Gift Shoppe founded in house opposite park
1971- Population- 1942
1971-Howard and Kaye Quinney opened Stedmans Store in King East. (from H. Schmid)
1973-Gordon W. Allend purchased Lorne Johhnson Drug Store (from H. Schmid)
1974-Maryan & Al Russell open antique business at “The Hollows” on King West. (from H. Schmid)
1974- Village of Newcastle becomes part of the Town of Newcastle in the Regional Municipality of Durham
1976-Population 2000
1976-New Fire Hall is opened in former Barnard’s Garage
1977-Glanville’s Coffee Shop shuts down (Helen Schmid archives)
1978-Judge Eric Richard “Dick” Lovekin sworn in as a County Court Judge at Brampton.
1978-New Arena on Caroline Street
1973- Village of Newcastle becomes part of Town of Newcastle
1978-Village Gift Shoppe purchased by Bob & Lynda Willsher and move business farther west calling Treaures n’Pastimes
1978- Melva Adams opens a shop where the Reporter was located, formerly Quenney’s Barber Shop, called “Sugar Chalet” moved to Oshawa in 1985. (from H. Schmid)
1979-Joanne Swadron opens antique shop called Aurum Antiques at 87 Mill St. N.
1979-New Water plant opens at Port Darlington
1980-St. Francis of Assisi Church moves to the former Elmhurst Hotel
1980- Wooden Shoe Antiques operated by Gwen McDonald- North East Corner (from H. Schmid)
1981- St. Francis of Assisi Separate Public School is built and opened behind St. Francis of Assisi church
1982-Community pays off mortgage for Newcastle Arena
1983- Old Crow Antiques operating at N.E. Corner King and Mill opened a tea room
1984-BIA makes improvements to King St.
1985-Houses are being built at Foster Creek subdivision in south Newcastle
1986-Newcastle Reporter closes-Cam Christie final Editor
1987- Newcastle Bakery opened May 25tyh by sisters Annette Shaw & Theresa Robichaud (from H. Schmid)
1988- Flowers Plus-flower shop opens November 1988 by Betty Lycett and Wilda Middleton
1989-JASCO- “Box Factory” closes
1990-New Library and Guardian Drugs Store opened at 48 Mill Street North
1992- Town of Newcastle changed to “Clarington”-named after townships of Clarke and Darlington
1996-Kaitlin Homes starts selling houses at Port of Newcastle
1996-New Public School is built
1996-Pauline Storks listed in book, “Who’s Who of Canadian Women” (from H. Schmid)
1998-Newcastle Funeral Home opens in the former Montague house on Mill St. S.
1998-Population 6875
2001-Newcastle resident Louis George Lalande is awarded the Medal of Bravery by Gov. General Adrienne Clarkson
2001- Newcastle hosts its first Massey Show at the Lovekin farm
2002-Judge Eric Richard “Dick” Lovekin dies.
2005- Population is now over 8500
2006- July 1st weekend- Sesquicentennial Celebrations
Courtesy: Myno Van Dyke.
Continue taking a Tour of Newcastle
A 'wee' bit of History for
The Village of Newcastle and area
An Early History of Newcastle
by Myno VanDyke
Newcastle, Ontario, is situated in the Municipality of Clarington, in the Regional Municipality of Durham. Prior to January 1st, 1974, Newcastle was an incorporated Village and located in what was then called the Township of Clarke. On January 1st, 1974 the Township of Clarke and the Village of Newcastle became part of The Regional Municipality of Durham.
The former townships of Clarke and Darlington were first known as The Town of Newcastle. Later the name was changed to Municipality of Clarington. The name Clarington reflects the former townships of Clarke and Darlington.
These townships were first surveyed in 1791; settlers began to locate along the lakeshore of Region of Durham in 1793-1796. However, when the military road called Dundas Street was opened under contract by Asa Danforth at the end of 1799; there were only a few settlers along its line. When Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe gave orders in 1796 that “a horse path” was to be explored from York (Toronto) to the Trent River, he directed that it was to run near the line of the second concession in each township “for the better crossing of the rivers.”
Augustus Jones, who explored the horse path and John Stegman, who surveyed the line for Danforth to follow, often ignored the surveyed road allowance. However, about two miles after entering Clarke from Darlington Township, they followed the road allowance for some miles and the western part of this straight stretch is now King Avenue, the main street of Newcastle. The Kingston Road was reported to be cleared and passable by December 23rd, 1800 from York (Toronto) to the Trent River. However, much of the year the roadway was impossible to use.
Many of the landholders in this region were absentees and settlers remained few even on the lakeshore.
A group of families- Lovekins, Bemans and Hartwells and Bates - had settled near Baldwin’s or Wilmot’s Creek, west of the site of the village before 1800 and in 1801 two Hartwells are recorded on Dundas Street. Just east of the “2nd Hartwell’s”, the Nine Mile Woods began and extended right across Clarke Township.
Up to about 1812 there were no houses on this stretch of the highway, but by 1816 the woods had been reduced at both ends and a few log houses had been built in them. There were probably one or two settlers within the limits of Newcastle.
Samuel Wilmot mentions only five families on Dundas Street when he bought 400 acres from the Hartwells in 1816 and none to the north. John Avery had acquired Lot 27, Con. 1 with its Broken Front, an absentee holding and at about this time Asa Wallbridge settled just east of the village site.
Dundas Street had been improved in 1814-1815 with money voted by the Legislature.
Richard Lovekin Junior, was one of the Commissioners for the section from York to Smith’s Creek. The highway was still only a rough dirt and corduroy road, but wagons were using it in 1816 and a line of stages was started in the following year. These were probably stage-wagons and only one ran each way once a week. Stages require changes of horses and refreshment for man and beast.
Crude change houses were set up at intervals, usually at crossroads where travelers could shelter while waiting for the stage. That there was a crossroads at the site of Newcastle is shown by a plan of part of Durham County sent to the Surveyor-General in 1825 by Samuel Street Wilmot, D.P.S. , and intended to show the “Roads, Mills, etc.” in the Newcastle District. This plan shows a “traveled road” running through the middle of Lot 28, Con. 1. Clarke Township, almost on the line of Mill Street in the present village of Newcastle, and joining the Lake Shore Road where the latter crossed Newcastle Creek close to the present bridge on Mill Street.
The Lakeshore Road was an old Indian trail that had been used by the first settlers to bring cattle from York and had been improved and established as a public road. Wilmot shows it running close to the lake across the front of Darlington Township as it still does across Clarke and Hope Townships. After crossing the creek this road turned down to the landing at the mouth. This landing had been used by the Indians who left traces of their camping ground and burials. However, until after 1810, the landing at Baldwin’s Creek was perhaps more important to the settlers.
Richard Lovekin and Robert Baldwin, the Elder, were both magistrates; settlers would come to their houses to take their oaths and to be married, while militia days were held at Baldwins who, as Lieutenant of Durham County, was in command of the militia. After Baldwin left Clarke in 1810 the other landing evidently became more important and the road was opened through Lot 28 because the creek made the road allowance along the west side of that lot impassable near the lake.
Lot 28, Con. 1 was a Crown Reserve and so could not be sold before 1824. It could be leased and may have had a tenant, who did not choose to buy it before the lot was granted to King’s College in 1828. It is probably that the lot across Dundas Street (28, Con II) was sold soon after 1823.
It had been granted to Robert Baldwin and his son, Dr. Wm. Warren Baldwin, complained when the tax on wild land was made permanent in 1823 that he would have to sell some holdings to meet arrears.
Absentees were beginning to sell their lands and more settlers were now moving into Clarke. Some were locating north of Dundas Street and it is likely that the side-road between Lots 28 and 29, Con. II, was opened before 1829 to let settlers reach locations in the back concessions. It was connected with the "“given” road through the First Concession by a track that is now Manvers Street. In 1829, William Weller took over the stage line and before long was running five coaches each way a week. The crossroads was now an excellent location for an inn, store or smithy.
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Newcastle’s Historic Plaques
Since 1963, there have been five Provincial Heritage Plaques honouring our local history placed in the Village of Newcastle and immediate area.
1. The Baldwin Homestead (Lot 31, Broken Front Clarke Twp.)
This plaque was placed on the former Baldwin property near the lakeshore and mouth of Wilmot Creek and dedicated in 1963. As of 2006, this plaque had been removed by unknown persons and could not be located. The original plaque stated;
“The Baldwin Homestead”
On this lot settled Robert Baldwin, Sr. (1741-1816) who emigrated to Upper Canada from Ireland in 1798. He served as a justice of the peace and a commissioner of roads for the Newcastle District. Appointed Lieutenant of the County of Durham, he was also in command of the local militia. In 1810, he moved to York to live with his son, Dr. W.W. Baldwin, a successful lawyer and physician who became a leading political reformer. The latter’s son, Robert Baldwin, Jr. was joint premier with Louis Lafontaine of the Province of Canada 1842-43 and 1848-51. “Erected by the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board.
2. Joseph E. Atkinson (King & Mill)
This Plaque was dedicated on August 5, 1973. Mrs. J.H. Crang Jr., granddaughter of Joseph Atkinson was present along with Harry Jose, Cecil Carveth (who promoted the plaque) Rev. Robert Hayne, Alex Carruthers, MPP Durham and Pauline Storks who gave a historical background.
Joseph E. Atkinson ( 1865-1948)
One of Canada’s leading publishers, Joseph Atkinson was born here in Clarke Township and, at eighteen, began his journalistic career with the Port Hope Times. He subsequently moved to Toronto where he was employed with the World and later the Globe. Following a period with the Montreal Herald, Atkinson, in 1899 became Editor and Manager of the Toronto Evening Star. He changed the name to the Toronto Daily Star (1900) and published it until his death. In 1910, he founded the Star Weekly, established radio station CFCA in 1922 and built the Star into Canada’s largest daily newspaper with a stated policy of supporting “the little man”. He died in 1948 leaving most of his considerable wealth to the Atkinson Charitable Foundation.
3. The Masseys At Newcastle (King Ave. East and Beaver Street).
This property was also known as “The Box Factory” for many years after the Masseys left.
The Masseys at Newcastle
One of the world’s largest manufacturers of heavy farm machinery, Massey –Ferguson has its foundations in a modest family business developed in Newcastle. Established in Bond Head by Daniel Massey, the fledgling operation was moved to larger quarters here in 1849. For 30 years the Newcastle Foundry and Machine Manufactory prospered under the shrewd management of three generations of enterprising Masseys. Capitalizing on the expanding wheat market, Hart, Daniel’s son, skillfully adapted American designed implements to suit Canadian agrarian conditions. When sales were secured in Europe, marking Canada’s first export of machinery overseas, continued expansion of the firm was ensured. By 1879 the operation had outgrown its Newcastle factories and the Massey Manufacturing Company, now managed by Hart’s son Charles, moved to larger facilities in Toronto.
4. Bishop Brent Plaque at Mill Street South at St. George’s Anglican Church
Bishop Charles Henry Brent (1862-1929)
An outstanding humanitarian and churchman. Brent was born near Newcastle and ordained in Toronto in 1887. Following parochial service in Buffalo and Boston, he was elected first Episcopal Bishop of the Philippine Islands in 1901. Confronted by the devastating moral and physical effects of opium addiction, Brent became an uncompromising advocate of drug control. He urged international co-operation in eradicating drug abuse and served as president of the Opium Commission at Shanghai (1909) and the Opium Conference at The Hague (1911-12). Elected Bishop of Western New York in 1917, Brent vigorously promoted Christian unity and, in 1927, presided over the World Conference on Faith and Order. This ecumenical gathering at Lausanne, Switzerland, helped to lay the foundation of the World Council of Churches.
Erected by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, Ministry of Culture and Recreation.
5. Newcastle Fish Hatchery 1868- The Fish Hatchery was located on Wilmot Creek near Highway Two (just east of Hwy 115)
Newcastle Fish Hatchery 1868
On this site in 1866 Samuel Wilmot began to experiment with the artificial breeding of salmon. His success led the federal government in 1868 to enlarge Wilmot’s project into Ontario’s first full-scale fish hatchery, one of the earliest in North America. The station and rearing ponds, built to restore Ontario’s declining salmon fisheries, reached its maximum production in 1876 when 1,500,000 eggs were hatched. By this time hatcheries were in operation in Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes, under Wilmot's’supervision. In 1876, he was appointed federal Superintendent of Fish Breeding Establishments. The Newcastle Hatchery, which had established a pattern for fish culture in many parts of the world, ceased operation in 1914.
Archeological and Historic Sites Board of Ontario
Many old homes are lovingly cared for by present day owners, some have unique histories of yesteryear, such as this house built by
'Thomas' Tamblyn. He originally had a shoe/boot tannery shop in the house.