Written By Beverly Hughes & Carol Small, Middlesex Centre Archives
Ilderton began around the intersection of Ilderton and Hyde Park Roads. A store, shoemaker, wagon-maker, and blacksmith had opened by the 1850s. Its name stems from Ilderton, Northumberland, England, home of many pioneer families.
In late 1875, the London-Huron-Bruce Railway from Wingham to London opened. Its passing through Ilderton created its “Village” status in 1876. Shipments included cordwood, logs, hay, straw, livestock and grain. The Ilderton station closed in 1967 with the last train service in 1989.
In 1905, Sovereign Bank opened in the King Edward Hotel, with a new bank being built in 1906. In 1908, the Home Bank of Canada took over. When it failed in 1923, the Standard Bank of Canada acquired it, followed by the Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1928. In 1980, the old building closed when a new one opened. Ilderton’s CIBC bank closed in 2024.
Municipal government commenced in the Police Village in 1907.
The first library opened in the Presbyterian Church basement in 1918. In 1925, the books were moved to Librarian Robert Calvert’s home, and in 1933, to Alex W. Scott’s. In 1948, it became affiliated with the Middlesex County Library. In 1966, the library moved to the Legion Hall. The current library opened in 1994.
The Ilderton Farmers’ Co-operative operated milling, lumber, coal, oil, gas and machinery businesses plus grain storage for the rural community surrounding Ilderton. In the 1990s, Hensall District Co-op purchased the business, ending local ownership. Today, it is an empty lot.
Fires destroyed many wooden structures. In 1923, a fire engine, one dozen pails, and ladders were bought for fire protection. A fire in the Odd Fellow’s Hall in 1947 destroyed the Hall and a home. Through local donations, a new fire hall opened in 1951 on the former site of the Hall. The current fire station on Hyde Park Road opened in 2003.
In 1924, the London Township Municipal Telephone System was established. It was replaced with a new building for the Telephone System and Post Office (current Sharing Organics shop). In 1962, the Bell Telephone Company acquired it.
Elementary schools that served Ilderton area children were School Section (S.S.) #4 at 12 Mile and Denfield Roads, and S.S. #8 at Wonderland and Ilderton Roads. In 1960, Oxbow School opened for these students plus those from S.S. #29 (opened in 1950 after the Ilderton Continuation School closed).
The Ilderton Continuation School at Ilderton Road and Mill Street opened in 1921 but was condemned in 1924. The Board purchased land from the London Township Agricultural Society to build a new school (now Legion) that opened in 1927. When Medway High School opened in 1949, all students transferred there. The building became S.S.#29 for Ilderton’s elementary students until 1960. Ownership returned to the Agricultural Society with the Village library, Royal Canadian Legion and Agricultural Society using it.
Ilderton’s churches included the United, Presbyterian and Anglican. The United Church (former Littlewood Methodist Church), was moved to Mill Street in 1892. Burnt in 1910, the current church opened in 1912. The original Presbyterian Church, located where the cenotaph sits, was established in the 1880s and closed in 1961. Prior to building Grace Anglican Church in 1892, people met in the Odd Fellows Hall or private homes. The Church closed in 2020. The Ilderton Community Bible Church opened in 2005 and continues to operate on Meadowcreek Drive.
One cannot properly tell the history of Ilderton in a few hundred words. The above is merely an outline. To find out more about this friendly village’s history, visit the Middlesex Centre Archives and then help celebrate Ilderton 150th anniversary on July 10, 11 and 12th.
