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Ontario Tourism Region : Southwestern
Description From Owner:
- Pop. 11,772. In Chatham T., Kent C., at the confluence ofthe North and East branches of the Sydenham R., on Hwy 40 and C. Rd. 78, 27 km NW of Chatham.
- The community was first known as The Forks because of its location at the confluence of the rivers.
- Most of its first settlers came from Lord Selkirk's nearby Baldoon Settlement, which they abandoned after frequent floodings of the low-lying lands, bouts of malaria, and finally,
- an invasion during the War of 1812 by American militia who stole their livestock.
- Laughlin McDougall was the first settler on his crown grant in 1824 at the forks of the Sydenham R. He opened a store and the present Wallaceburg can be traced from this beginning.
- In early days the natives referred to the place as Village of 40 Thieves, due to pilfering of their goods from their canoes while they traded.
- When the post office was established in 1837, the fIrst postmaster, Hugh McCallum, named the community Wallaceburg in honour of Sir William Wallace, the champion of Scottish independence.
- The place is nicknamed 'Kent County's Second City.' In 1840, James Baby surveyed a nearby area, erected a large frame building, taught school, and operated a store.
- He had hoped to name his village Babyville, but it was absorbed by Wallaceburg.
- A major contribution to fIrearms design was made here in 1878, when inventor James Paris Lee (1831-1904) developed the box magazine for his Lee Rifle, forerunner of the Lee-Enfield Rifle.
- Postcards above from A Great Lakes Treasury of Old Postcards 2007 Lorenzo Marcolin, MD 176 pp. For Copies call the Huronia Museum 705 526 2844 or email lmarcolin@aol.com
Address of this page: http://www.ruralroutes.com/wallaceburg