Written By Jenny Grainger
Western Middlesex – in fact, all of Southwestern Ontario - was once covered with pioneer villages that faded in the twentieth century. Often, we see reminders of these communities in the remaining buildings, memorials, and cemeteries.
One such village developed on the Thames River in Mosa Township in the southwest corner of Middlesex County. Cashmere was founded by Singleton Gardiner, who built a dam across the river and established a gristmill and sawmill on the site. The village that grew on Gardiner’s land was first known as Canton after his birthplace in Co. Armagh, Ireland. When the community opened a post office, though, it had to change its name, because there was another Canton post office in the east of the province. The post office department itself chose the glamorous name Cashmere, perhaps taking the name from the Vale of Kashmir.
In the 1850s, Cashmere had a large business community, with numerous mills, blacksmith shops, a general store, a post office, a school, and at least two taverns on its half dozen streets. Unfortunately, that same decade, when the Great Western Railway was built, it bypassed Cashmere and was constructed three miles to the northwest. Business shifted to communities along the tracks, and older riverfront communities like Cashmere could not compete. Thames River flooding may also have forced some residents to move.
Another pioneer community was Napier, located in Metcalfe Township on the Sydenham River. Once one of the most significant communities in western Middlesex, Napier was founded in the 1830s by retired British navy and military men. Captain Christopher Beer, for example, spent 14 years in the Royal Navy, while Captain Robert Johnston was a veteran of Waterloo. Both men received land grants in return for their service. Johnston built a store and gristmill, importing his millstones from Scotland. He later owned a sawmill to harvest the many black walnut trees in the neighbourhood and finally built a woollen mill. Not surprisingly, the village was first known as Johnston’s Mills. Later, the community became Metcalfe, like the township, but was renamed Napier when a post office opened in 1851. In 1857, the population was about 150, and there were many streets and businesses.
Napier, like Cashmere, was bypassed by the railway, which was built through Glencoe and Kerwood instead. Also, once the walnut trees were depleted, there was less work for the sawmill. The community went into a slow decline, its post office closing in 1915, and its last store, the Napier House, closing in 1970. Today, there are numerous older buildings and many new homes, but Napier is not the bustling village of yesteryear. One of its most interesting landmarks is St. Mary’s Anglican Church, built ca. 1840, the oldest remaining church in Middlesex. Although its last regular service was held in 1920, this simple pioneer building opens annually for a Decoration Day Service. Many settlers, including Captain Beer, rest in its cemetery.
Hamlets also developed around road intersections. Strathburn, for example, was located at the corner of Longwoods Road and the Mosa/Ekfrid Townline, now Dundonald Road. Strathburn is best remembered for Hugh McRae’s store and residence on the southeast corner. Built about 1850, the complex was for decades one of the best-known landmarks on Longwoods Road. A huge box stove stood at the rear of the store, where travellers used to warm themselves during cold weather. Many stayed the night, as McRae also operated an inn. A post office named Strathburn opened in 1852 in McRae’s store to offer yet another service to the neighbours. Eventually, Hugh’s son Duncan took over this bustling business.
In the twentieth century, travel became faster and easier. Automobiles replaced horses and buggies, and highways were paved. Rural Mail Delivery meant fewer post offices were necessary. Smaller general stores were less able to compete with large-town enterprises, especially when farmers no longer needed to go there to pick up their mail. Roadside stops like Strathburn became less essential. Duncan McRae sold the old store to a wrecking company in 1943 to make way for a service station. Later, even that was removed when the highway was widened. Today, a plaque has been placed on the site of the former store and residence to remind travellers of the Strathburn of days gone by.
Another small village, Kilmartin, stretched along Dundonald Road from Inadale Drive to Walkers Road. Settled by Scottish Highlanders dispersed from Argyllshire during the Scottish clearances, it’s not surprising that the community became associated with a Presbyterian Church. The congregation had many buildings over the years, but a brick church built in 1867 was christened Burns Presbyterian after the minister who preached the first sermon, Dr. Robert Burns of Knox College, Toronto. Unfortunately, that church had structural defects and was condemned in 1891. In the same year, the congregation built the Burns Presbyterian Church used today.
Kilmartin also had a post office from 1861 onwards. The name came from a town in Argyllshire (Strathclyde) from where many of the settlers had come. In the mid-1860s, there was also a blacksmith, a physician, a carpenter, and a hotel keeper nearby. At various times, mills operated in the area. Until recently, an old school stood on Dundonald Road. Today, however, Burns Church and its cemetery are nearly all that remain at Kilmartin. The church celebrated the 190th anniversary of its congregation on March 30, 2025, with a special event commemorating the area’s pioneers.
