Like her beloved Anne character, Montgomery loved to explore and felt a particular connection to her surroundings. There weren’t many parts of Norval that she didn’t end up exploring and she wrote fondly of many parts of the village. The different locations below give a taste of where Montgomery went in her daily life.

Norval Presbyterian Church

Norval Presbyterian Church’s congregation first began organizing in 1838 and originally met in a frame church building where Hillcrest Cemetery is now located. By 1878, the congregation had grown and moved into a new building, which is still being used today.

When Montgomery and her husband, Reverend Ewan Macdonald, moved to Norval, the Presbyterian Church had just recently voted to remain Presbyterian, rather than join the newly formed United Church of Canada. Half of its members had left for the United Church but it also gained many new parishioners from Mount Pleasant's Presbyterian Church which had voted to join the United Church. The new minister and his wife were taking over the church at a time of great change.

Like many churches at the time, Norval Presbyterian was both a place of worship and socializing, with many social events, committees, clubs and worship groups. As the minister’s wife, Montgomery was involved in almost all of them, one way or another.

“The church is a large one of red brick. The caretaker, Mr. Williams, took us through it. It is a very nice church inside and the newly installed electric lights are beautiful” L.M. Montgomery’s journal, February 28, 1926

Norval Presbyterian Church, 1908. From the Esquesing Historical Society, EHS00302. Click on the image for more details.

Norval Presbyterian Manse

Montgomery wrote that the Manse – the home reserved for a minister and their family – in Norval was “splendid.” While living there, Montgomery hosted friends, family and church parishioners; she wrote several novels and read many books; for nine years, it was home to Montgomery.

Montgomery wrote a “tour” of the manse in her journal when the family first moved in:

“Norval manse is well designed and situated. It is of red brick. The kitchen is much larger and more convenient than the Leaskdale one. We have the soft water pump in the kitchen which is a good item, and there is a back staircase.

…Our dining room here is large and light with a big bay window at the end and a door opening on to the veranda through which we can see the beautiful pine wood on the hill behind the village.

… The front hall is large and very like the one at Leaskdale. The parlor is a nice room too – very large with a bay window.

… The least satisfactory room is the library behind the parlor. It is too small. But we have managed by putting my books in the parlor and so it serves Ewan very nicely as a study and is a cosy room.

…And while the four front rooms [upstairs] are all nice and of a fair size not one of them is really large enough for Ewan and I… But every room has a closet…

… Lying in bed I can see the hill of pines, dark against the dawn when the black night turns to silver, mysterious under the stars or weaving magic with moonlight.

… The bathroom is above the kitchen and behind it is a nice tiny room which I shall fit up as a sewing room. There is a good linen closet at the head of the back stairs. And a splendid garret where all sorts of things can be stowed away.

… On the whole I am well satisfied with my new home and will be more and more so as days go by and it becomes home in reality” L.M. Montgomery’s journal, February 28, 1926

Credit River

The Credit River winds its way from the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville to Lake Ontario by Port Credit, Mississauga and flows through Norval on its way. Upon arrival in Norval, Montgomery almost immediately writes of the scenery the river provides and later remarks “the Credit is really the most picturesque river I have ever seen” (September 29, 1926).

The river is an important ecosystem for salmon, trout, pike and many other fish and wildlife. In 1920s and 1930s Norval, it was also an important leisure scene. Local youth, including Montgomery’s sons, would swim in the river in the summer and skate on it in the winter.

The Credit River and Norval Dam, 1912. From the Esquesing Historical Society, EHS10823. Click on the image for more details.

St. Paul’s Anglican Church and Parish Hall

Anglican church services are believed to have begun in Norval as early as 1830, though official records don’t appear until 1845. First meeting in the Norval schoolhouse, the current church was then built and opened in 1846.

The rectory, where the church’s minister lived, was just across the street from the Presbyterian Manse where Montgomery lived. Dr. William Kyle was the minister of the church from 1923 to 1926 and a medical doctor. Montgomery wrote in her journal that the minister and his wife were very nice and congenial, and she was sad when they moved away. Reverend Boyd became the new Anglican minister in 1927.

The Parish Hall was built in 1927 and opened in 1928. Walter Brain donated the lumber in 1925 to be used for the event space. The Hall was used by the whole Norval community for joint entertainment events, including practices and performances of the theatre group Montgomery helped start, Old Tyme Nite. Montgomery would also often attend the bazaars and other events held in the parish hall.

Flour Mill

Norval’s mill was built by its earliest settler, James McNab, in the 1820s and passed through many different owners.

When Montgomery arrived in Norval in 1926, the mill was taken over by the Bank of Nova Scotia in 1923 and sold to W.B. Browne and Company. The mill was an important employer in the community and many probably felt a sense of pride towards it for its production was well known across Canada. Montgomery’s son, Chester, worked at the mill for the summer in 1926.

Unfortunately, it partially burned down on January 27, 1930, striking a blow to the town’s main industry. It was eventually fixed up and continued to operate until 1942.

“On the roofs of the mill were three chimneys with large cowls on them. And fastened to the cowls three weather vanes, two large and one small, of a rather peculiar design. When these dark cowls and vanes came out against a sunset sky they had a most extraordinary resemblance to three little dwarfs, such as might have stepped out of some old Nordic fairy tale of gnome or kobold. They had a charm and mystery all their own – an old-world note in this little Canadian village that always gave me the keenest delight when I walked down main street or came over one of the bridges on a fine evening after sunset and suddenly saw my three Little Goblins of the Mill keeping their vigil atop of the old red brick walls.” L.M. Montgomery’s journal, January 28, 1930

Barnhill Store

Located at the corner of Adamson and main street, the Barnhill general store had been run by three generations of the Barnhill family. Everett and Jean Barnhill were the owners when Montgomery lived in Norval. Everett was also the postmaster at the time.

Post Office

In 1897, the joint general store and post office were purchased by William Barnhill. His son, Everett, was the postmaster and owner of the general store after him, including when Montgomery lived in Norval.

Montgomery received lots of mail, so trips to the post office most likely happened several times a week. In fact, in February 1930, she received over 150 fan letters in the mail in one week from Australia after her address was accidentally published in an Australian newspaper.

Norval School

Norval School’s brick building was built in the 1860’s and a second room was added in 1873. Montgomery’s son Stuart attended Norval School for a short while before leaving for private school.

Pen and ink sketch of Norval School by artist Frank Black. Click on the image for more details.

Radial Rail Station

Located southwest of the village on Adamson Street, Norval’s rail station was one of the town’s most important features to Montgomery. The Toronto Suburban Railway (also called the “Radial”) connected Norval with many of the nearby villages and towns, as well as larger cities like Toronto and Guelph. Montgomery rarely drove herself and so she used the Radial often. She would frequently take it to downtown Toronto to meet with publishers, go shopping, and attend theatre and other performances.

Outside of Norval

Although Montgomery was based in Norval, she spent a lot of time visiting friends and attending events in nearby communities. She attended garden parties in Limehouse, went to the cinema in Georgetown, and visited friends in Glen Williams. A favourite pastime of Montgomery’s was also to go for drives around the local area, and so she saw many of the communities that now make up Halton Hills and surrounding areas.

Barraclough House

Originally built for John Sykes, the owner of a manufacturing company, this Glen Williams residence was home to Montgomery’s friends, Ernest and Ida Barraclough. When Montgomery and Macdonald first moved to Norval, they stayed at Barraclough House for a few nights before settling into the Norval Manse. The couple would visit the home many times throughout their time in Norval.

Barraclough House in the winter. From the Esquesing Historical Society, EHS00666. Click on the image for more details.

Union Presbyterian Church

Reverend Ewan Macdonald took up dual ministry for Norval Presbyterian Church and Union Presbyterian Church, located just outside of Georgetown and Glen Williams. Montgomery wrote fondly of the church in her journals, describing it as “old but a very beautiful one of white stone and quite nice inside” (February 28, 1926).

Members of Union Presbyterian Church first began to meet as early as 1833. They built a log building as their church in 1835 and later built a frame church in 1848. The stone building that is still being used today was built in 1884 and is the one Montgomery would have sat in each Sunday, listening to her husband preach.

“Ewan and I often said to each other that Union was an ideal congregation. It was small but it was a solid block of well-to-do, well-bred and intelligent people, loyal to their church and to their minister. The Session was composed of men worthy of their eldership, the Board of Managers were business-like and took their duties seriously… We found the Union people sympathetic, friendly and congenial. I enjoyed every evening I spent in their homes, every afternoon in their W.M.S… There was a splendid lot of young people in the church and it was a pleasure to work among them. We always felt thoroughly at home among the Union people” L.M. Montgomery’s journal, August 19, 1934

Glen Williams Town Hall

The Glen Williams Town Hall was built in 1871 with the original purpose of being a meeting place for the local temperance society. However, it quickly became a meeting place for churches and community groups, and hosted many events. Montgomery staged many performances at the Town Hall with the Union Dramatic Club.