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COMMUNITIES WEDNESDAY OCTOBER FROM T1IF and Muriel Lyons above have fond memories of Terra Cotta when they were both growing up there Mrs Lyons retails inking the train to Georgetown high school while Mr I J on remember the haul through the snow to public school down he road from the arm his dad owned The public school Is still landing the corner of the find and Fifth I Ine Herald photo Tall tales at Terra Cotta general store Living In Terra Cotta In the old days had its drawbacks Terrance Lyons 91 remembers the patience required to make a phone call on a party line Some of the old girls were so long winded you nave to wait almost a half hour ho said You had to get accustomed to your ring so you knew when to pick up the receiver said his wife Muriel 86 In those days people made long distance phone calls by relaying messages across different counties from family to family Mrs Lyons remembers Mr Lyons grew up In the area of Terra Cotta and attended he old stone school which Is still standing at he comer of and Fifth Line It was about a three mile walk for some he said Kids from Terra Cotta paid for their education alright Sometimes they had to walk through snowbanks up to their Mo school Town first named Salmon ville Terra Is situated Credit River which flows Into Lake Ontario The first inhabitants were the Indians We know this because many residents of Terra Cotta have found arrow heads on their property It Is probable that the first while man was Champlnln who may have come up the Credit River in search for a passage the west Also and Grose tiers could have followed this river in search of furs The village was formed sometime between 1820 and 1B2B Its first name was Salmon ville because it Is said that the river was so full of salmon at one time that you could take a pit and take them by the fork fulls John Davis was given lot Con cession west by the Crown In 1823 McLcods were also among the first of the settlers in he area and they settled on the Line above the Credit River Mr Ken Pearson now lives here and port of old apple orchard still remains standing George Campbell took over Lot 27 and These settlers had carry heir grain on their shoulders to Toronto or Port Credit and bring back he supplies hat were needed In the same way ROADS The Line and be Line were surveyed and roads were through There was a wagon ail from Ihe to the but only a foot path from the Line to he The road from the to the was surveyed many times but a road was not put through properly 1880 Simon was Ihe main man responsible for getting the road put through In 1859 Simon Plewcs came from England and started a grist mill for the settlers to grind their grain for he cattle and to make flour This mill was across from where place now is There also was one at the bottom of the Line hill near where Shepherds now live The owner of this one was Townscnd known as Silc lie also had a handy pair of pliers he used to pull offend ng lecth All power for he grist mills was made from the Iwo dams across the river and from he water wheels East of the grist mill Inert was a saw mill operated by Redpath Stringer Mr Plcwes was the first Postmaster and built store on corner of place Jane Smith worked for him and It the present day store Mr also gave land for the Methodist Church The men of the village built It and it was first affiliated with Campbell Cross and later with Nerval and Glen Williams The church was at the lime of the Church Union 1925 Interested folk have kept the Sunday School going The Union Presbyterian Church met in homes in Ben Parr was the first carpenter and built many of early houses of he village In there were two hotels One was by the present day store and the other across the road One hotel Is still there and Is now used as a house About 1877 a railway went through The first station bulk was just a box car After the box car they built a small station and a stand on he north side for loading milk A was built by the farmers leave heir horses a I while they were loadjng their milk on the train The last passenger train went through in The name Salmonvllle was changed to Terra Cotta 1BS0 The name was changed through Ihe railway men The name came from the colour of the shale This shale was used for bricks The Pressed Brick Company was formed in IStfl and owned 175 acres This plant adjoined the railway station Twenty five men were employed Robert Gibson who later moved to Hamilton was Superintendent The Brick Company had a power plant on Credit River They used Ihe power drive the machinery and to light the plant and Superintendent house This house is now owned by The Brick Company was started in and was onehalf mile west from the station This company thrived Edward Town send was the manager In Les reports wages were ten cents per hour for a ten hour day Salur day was a short day so he only had to work nine hours Plants Brick Com pany was started on about onehalf mile cost of the 10th Line It only ran for a short time Schools were overcrowded for many people of various nationalities came work at the brick yards In 1920 Ihere were over fifty children ding the No school Miss Cheyne was the teacher STONE QUARRIES The first stone quarry was started between 1840 and 1850 on the Line It was owned by a Mr James Later the Townsends started quarrying To take stone down the hill they us ed a small tramway They would load the cars at top with stones and as these went down he others were pulled up from the bottom rem the Terra Women Institute Tweed History Collection Muriel Lyons took the train from Terra Cotta to Georgetown high school catching a ride with the nine shipment of milk bound even luaily for Toronto dairies When he was growing up Mr Lyons could visit a well stocked general store with boots dry goods everything you d ever need There was a brickyard run with electricity generated from a dam and dynamo The town used to for the dance or fish In the Credit River The name was changed In 1891 Mrs Lyons said The ladles of Terra Cotta used have a sewing group called the Thursday They put on a dinner once per month for which was very popular he townsfolk Euchre games followed dinner The general store was a socio re for the men We sit down beside he pot belly stove and spin yams all night Mr Lyons said grinning sports politics local happenings he said Checkers was a favorite game of the men Dances held at the Terra Cotta hall cost cents Local musicians would ploy fddle drums and piano have a real hoedown for cents a couple The ladies pro vided the cake You have more fun and it cost you nothing You d have en times as much fun as you could have today for less money In old days more people work In Terra Cot a There was in the local flour mill brick yards and farmers would hire out during certain limes of Ihe year Mr Lyons said Terra Cotta had a hockey team which played other villages In friendly competition In the winter The mill pond ice was cut into 400 blocks in the winter serve locals during the warmer months to cool down food he said FOR ALL YOUR LIGHTING NEEDS TIFFANY LAMPS Choose From Our Many Sizes Styles and Coloursl Spcls1 Of den Made Up Indoor ft Outdoor Lighting I Fixtures Track Lighting I Ceiling Hood Fans Central Vacuum Syitemi Gerrie Electric Wholesale Ltd 31 7 Armstrong Ave Georgetown