two hundred historic limehouse acres acquired by conservation authority the georgetown herald thuridy march 16th 1967 i age 9 history wh ch doles back to the early 1800 s in the quiet village of l mehouse may repeat itself f plans of the cred t valley conservaton author ty are carr ed to comple tion in the next few years the author ty has acquired aporox mately 200 acres in the edge of the v llage conta n ng the rema ns of the thriving limestone industry which o gnely created the area limestone s st ii quarr ed near ne ghbour ng acton but the quarries at l mehouse are long s nee quiet spots over grown with sumac weeds and cedar p cturesque stone kilns are the monuments to past act vity and the black creek chatters through an open cut where once a mill stood until 1805 the land belonged ers of wood and drawers of to the hisstssauga indians a water for thy own appointed much of the credit river water poplc the scottish highland bed did at one time ai the crs press of settlers increased the fovemment ot upper canada l setlicr j the limehouse purchased what is now esqurs arpa was adam s who ifig township from the indians a ncd a crown deed f during the next 14 years gcorre conccss on 6 in 1820 the black surveved the townh n first registered private sale all and after 1819 settlers pushed limehouse was from mr stull into the new y odcnerl land a 3841 to niman lindsay who wily highlander mr black s cf started the lime industry there fidency was matched only by eaquwlng politic his fierce national pride and religious zeal a story is told settlers inthe northern sec f mr black who as lay prea t on of the township were gen ciier of the local presbyterians cralty sympathetic to the griev jed his flock m copious prayers anccs of the rebels led by wil ending each with the request ham lyon mackenzie in 1837 that the local irish remain hew but were not prepared to join mackenzie in his attempt to overthrow the government and secede trom hie kmp l a farmer allan macpherson who lived south of limehouse was one of mackenzie 3 heutcn ants and in his flight from the authorities was hidden in the hqme of joseph standiah where the first township council met in 1821 during the day mr standiah searched for rebels and at night talked long hours with mr mac pherson about the political sit uation in upper canada in sue ceeding years when asked why he had bidden the man mr sundlsh exhibited the profound logic of our pioneering ances tors when he said macpher son would have done the same i for me for many years the people of this area continued to be moderately radical in their pol tical vie s alter hal on fnun ty separated from wentworth in 18a4 john white a liberal was mp almost continually for 20 years in 1873 however the citizens of limehouse following the prevailing obsession voted against mr white and elected an independent temperance looking uke several oddlyconstructed beeh ves these k ins provides employment for more than 100 men when th s picture was taken about 1900 l mestone was bias ted from the nearby quarry and drawn to the k ins by horse and wagon here it was fired into i me for uses n ea y ontar o i crumbling remains of a once thr v ng n dustry stand bes de the cnr tracks west of georgetown at limehouse these k ins where 1 mestone was i red gave l mehouse its name photo by joan rail rrgs illastino kwer for the quarry was kept n th s j mestone powder house between 1 kilns end the quarry each stone s beyed to the next and no mortar was used st ii i wbh preserved after more than 70 years il shows the workmansh prof bygone days candidate newspaper accounts of the following celebrations show that for at least one night the temperance workers definitely forgot their princi pies scats presbyterians religion played an important part in the lives of the early settlers as it did across the countr in lhnen u e in 1832 john meredith deeded two acres for two pounds ten shillings to the ca v nlie resoyier a i church this provided a site for a church and cemetery for many of the early settlers were scots a church was not erected there until 1861 and then as a result of a combined effort by the presbyterians episcopalians and episcopal methodists in the years before residents at tended church at boston or ac ton local presbyterians note with pride that although the founding of georgetown con gregations predates that of limehouse the limnhouse presbyterians sponsored the first similar congregation at georgetown first mathodiit in 1876 a mr gowdy sr deed ed the land for a local mcth odist church george grant built the- church with the help of charles and sam meredith they built well for the building is still used as the limehouse memorial hall rev john lynch was the first methodist minis ter the village of limehouse grew slowly building lots were n t surveyed un il 155 58 and by 1881 there were only 17 registered jandowners m the village prior to 1840 the area went by lot and concession i number then it became the village of fountain th s name remained until 1897 when the post office dept remm i limehouse and opened the first post office in the village i first railway in 1858 the main line of the grand trunk railway now the cnr pushed a line through a j cut blasted in the limestone during the construct on a tern porary settlement of 200 wor leers and their families lived at limehouse one of the local legends tells of a construction worker a uule worse for an af ternooon on the tavern who sat on a keg of powder and lit the fuse blowing himself to the top of the cut he must have survived the accident for there is no report of a fatality in the late 1800 s limehouse was a booming community with at least three hotels three sto res two quarries several mills and a prospering lime indus try during the building of the railway a hotel was operated in the mitchell residence on the fifth concession in 1871 miles mcdonnell operated the lime house inn and a third hotel was b lit h horn s traser ihe v 1 iage blacksmith the first was robert ford was an important individual in pioneering days mill ng provided employment for many citizens at least three mills were in existence on rlack creek between the old mill pond which extended northwest to the fifth conccs sion and the railway one m ii produced water lime for cem ent for all the railroad bridges this mill later became a lum ber and grist mill in 1862 john newton built his woollen mill wmch wis known eventually as the empire b ankrt compi ny raw materials from local sources were used and payment in many cases was made in blankets in 1872 a fireproof paint in dustry began under the direc tton of meikle newton and company james newton eld est son of the founder became sole owner of th business blue and red clays were extracted from lot 22 concession 7 es quesing township directly southeast of the limehouse un ion or presbyterian church the six colors produced were ex ported to oie united- states great britain and australia local product bast according to an article in the acton free press on may 20th 1030 beardmore and company wished to repain the r build ings one spring iamples were obtained from several campan les and the final decision was to order the paint from phila dclphia when the order was filled from the united states it bore the inscription manufee tured by j newton limehouse canada an english settler in ltmchousc had the same ex perlenee when ordering paint from england dimitar strikes in 1883 fin strored both the woollen mill and the paint and lumber mill por a time it was feared the whole village would burn hut the rapid arrival of the horse- dran ire engine lromccor getown saved it lack of suffi cient insurance to rebuild the mills marked the beginning of the end for the village on the properly south of the tracks now owned by the crc dit valley conservation author ity there remains seven set kilns and a drawn kiln lime stone was taken from the quar ry west of these kilns and drawn from there to the kilns by horse and cart besides the kilns there is a limestone powder house and the founda tion of the old water lime mill which was torn down at the height of production in the 1880s and 90s the kilns were operating 24 hours a day em ployed 100 men and produced about 70000 bushels of lump lime and 60 000 barrels of wat erlune per year processing lime mention has been made of the kilns where limestone rock was cooked to produce lime the set kilns were short squat struc lures several cords of wood were placed from the top into the kilns mouth then lime stone would be placed on top of the wood covered with blue claj the fire lit and the lime stone cooked for five or six days when the process was finished the lime was taken out of the fire hole in the bottom a draw kiln was far more ef ficlent wood was placed in this type through fire holes at eith er side to the level of the grate which separated the wood from the- limestone the atone was placed in from the top the cooking took about three days and after that lump lime could be drawn away about every five or six hours local wood was used at first to fire these kilns but eventually had to be 1m ported into the area f the entire lime operation cea sed at limehouse about 1017 largely due to the danger of blasting in the confined area one drill hole may still be seen on top of the quarry wall with the ceasing of lime operations the last large iridustry ended in limehouse the village then re ceded to its present quiet rural atmosphere g s goodhew compiled a history of limehouse several years ago and the author wish cs to acknowledge the research done by mr goodhew for complete insurance service life health annuities group james l young 10 shelley struct 8774959 the great west life assurance company use easter seals w s i i therap es and special prosthetic equipment help to rehabili tate youngsters like this little fellow being assisted by the skiled therap st many children in this prov nee have been d sabled through accident around the home or on the busy h ghways but regardless of the cause the ontario society for cr ppled children and the local easter seal club will be able to help where needed because of generous donations to the annual easteigeal appeal support the local appsal with generous gift today help crippled children mail your pink envelope to the canadian imperial bank of commerce 1 mam st s geo rgt town sponsored by rotary club of georgetown we sell relj or blue brand beef only tender delicious choice quality a big selection at lowest possible prices stock your freezer with top quality red or blue brand beef hind4bcef65 front vfrfaf 45 1 side of beef 55l no extra chain for cutting or wrapping red or blue brand tender chuck steak 49 swifts sliced side bacon 49 breaded veal patties 49 sunbrite coloured margarine 4 s1 coleman s pure lard 41 blue valley i meatttwarket 2 1 s- itimir 148 gurph st georgetown 8776331 lulaiiunj s kennedy rd n sratfpton oppoil pmi secondary schoo4590ss1 ip you do not see the cut of meat you require our friendly staff wiu be pleased to assist you