Written By Carol Small, Middlesex Centre Archives
Former Lobo Township
Communities
Forgotten Communities
Amiens, has had three different locations before it disappeared around 1840, shortly after it was bypassed by a road from Five Mile Road, London Township to Hickory Corners. All stage coach traffic was lost then. From first established in 1824, in its variation of locations all around Fanshawe Road and Hickory Corners, Amiens was home to sawmill, grist mill, store, post office, school, blacksmith shop, tavern and shoemaker. In the 1830s, the community had about twenty homes and a population of about one hundred. Today, only Amiens Road signifies that this community ever existed.
Bowood, located at the corner of Nairn Road and Fern Hill Drive, had a store, a basket factory, a hotel, a tailor shop, a grist mill, a church with a cemetery and a post office (1886-1913). In 1913, a stage coach ran from Bowood to the London Market. The former store is now a residence at the corner.
Duncrief, located on Mill Road at Duncrief Creek, was established in 1835 with a mill. Later a blacksmith shop, woodworking shop, store and post office were located here. All that remains of Duncrief is an abandoned building and mounds of earth.
Fernhill, located at the corner of Poplar Hill and Fernhill Roads, was home to several businesses including a store, post office, blacksmith shop, Temperance Shed, wagon-making shop, shoemaker, tannery, buggy-making business and a stage coach business from Fernhill to London. At one time up to 25 families lived here. Today, besides the signposts, only a florist shop bears the name Fernhill.
Greystead, located on Greystead Drive near the corner of the New Ontario Road, was named for the Shipley family’s home village in Northumberland, England. It had a school and a post office (1874-1893) housed in the home of Edward Shipley and then across the road to John T. Shipley’s. Today, the school house is a residence, and several farms have retained the name Greystead.
Siddallsville, located on the corner Fernhill Drive and Siddall Drive, was named for its founder, John Siddall. This once thriving milling community was home to a mill, a carding mill, blacksmith shop, store, two hotels, a wagon-maker shop and a brewery. The seventy acre “gore” that is bounded by Fernhill Road, Vanneck Road and Siddall Drive once was home to the workers in the Siddallsville businesses. Today, “the Gore” is an empty plot of land. The Siddall Cemetery is the only landmark that signifies that this was once a hub for the settlers.
Existing Communities
Coldstream, located on Ilderton Road west of Coldstream Road, was home to mills, a store, a woollen factory, a community hall and a post office. Always considered the centre of Middlesex County, this hamlet grew when Jacob Marsh built a water-powered saw- and grist-mill. The Marsh Store, a local landmark, was moved farther west from the corner of Coldstream and Ilderton Road to its present location on Ilderton Road and Mill Lane. Over the years, it has housed a general store, community library, Lobo Mutual Insurance office, post office, local lecture club, and quilt shop. Nearby, on Quaker Lane, is the Friends’ (Quaker) Meeting House and Cemetery built to service the local Friends’ community. Today Coldstream is home to the Municipality of Middlesex Centre offices and firehall, a school and several subdivisions.
Ivan, located on the corner of Nairn Road and Ivan Drive, was first called Ivanhoe when William McIver built a store in 1844. Later it held the name of Inkerman before becoming Ivan. Ivan once had a store, blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, grist-mill, sawmill, post office and church. Residences and Melville United Church and Cemetery mark the location of this hamlet today.
Komoka, located on Komoka and Glendon Drives, got its name from the Muncey nation that called the site, Kah-Ma-Ka, a local burying site. A legend about how two men from the Delaware and Muncey nations fought and died over an Indigenous woman, and the woman took her own life after, tells that all three were buried at Kah-Ma-ka. Komoka is known as a railroad town with branches of the Great Western Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway. As a result, several hotels were built. The village housed a doctor’s office, general store, post office, town hall, bank, mill and some gravel businesses because of its gravel deposits. Today, the village has become a bedroom community with several subdivisions established and more being built. It has all the local businesses needed to accommodate that growing population, such as medical clinics, dental clinics, pet markets, banks, restaurants, stores, nursing home, schools etc., as well as local recreational facilities of an arena complex, community centre and parks.
Lobo Village, located at the intersection of Nairn and Fanshawe Roads, was an important thoroughfare for travellers. This gave rise to a commercial and service centre. Some of the businesses located here were hotels, boot and shoe makers, masons, wagon and carriage makers, stores, doctors, brick and tile manufacturers, weavers, carpenters, milliners, schools and a post office. After a store burned in 1915, a new store with gas pumps for cars was erected. With that, Herman Marsh, the proprietor, started a campground. The post office operated from 1847 to 1959. The general store and Mason Lodge that operated in the adjacent school behind the store burned in January 2017. Today, a car dealership, curling stone company, garage, and residences occupy the Village.
Poplar Hill, located at the intersection of Poplar Hill and Ilderton Roads, got its name from the grove of poplar trees growing on a hill by Fanshawe Road. Poplar Hill was noted for the number of churches in the community – at one time there were five churches, with only two still active today. The very busy Poplar Hill Park was established in 1920 and hosts the annual Poplar Hill Picnic. Businesses in the hamlet, included two stores, post office (1881-1918), undertaker business, blacksmiths, wagon maker, veterinary, doctor, shoemaker, garage and brickyard. Today, Poplar Hill is mainly a residential community that’s population swells with activities in the park.
