TREES - The source of material that built o WHITBY FREE PRESS, Thursday, October 7th, 1971, Page 3 - 'OId TYMER' ur f irst great industry a'LUMBER' i think that i shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. -ioyce Kilmer 1888-1918 This column is dedicated to the mem- ory of our earliest (1801) settlers whose 1 abor, to the mi ddle of the 19th century, prepared and developed this great Ont- a r i o County for its second great in-. dustry - "Agriculture", by removing trees from the land, followed by the p 1 antingof apple trees on farms throughout the County, thus establish- ing this area rated today high among the top apple markets of this Province. . ... T h e year is 1801 and the popu- l ation is 1, 100 inhabitants, 1lar g e 1ly En g 1 i s h, I1r ish and Scotch origin. Windsor Bay They had already established a small settlement on the lakefront, first known as "W indsor Bay", shortly after chan- ged to Port Whi!by. These earl iest im- m i g r an ts were the first- pioneers in t h i s a r e a. A number of farms were staked out, but before crops could be s o w n , vast acreages of trees had to be cleared. Fortunately the trees comprised a g r e a t v ar iety of hard and soft wood t i m b e r , for which there was an im- mediate market. A half-century As new settlers came, land clear- ingfollowed year after year, with the e s t abl1 i shment of saw mills keeping pace, resulting in new village settle- ments,, through to Lake Scugog, Port Perry. It was here that the large Pax- ton Sawmill produced a great footage of the three by twelve inch by twelve foo t , har dwood planks used in the building of the great Plank Road, ex- tending south from Manchester through Myrtle and Brooklin for the transport of lumber from the sawmills for expor t to man y ports in the western world, including the United States, Cuba and Europe. Lumber was transported via sailing ships waiting to be loaded at at the docks of our excellent harbour w hi ch had been buil t by the Feder al . Government, timed to meet the com- plet ion of that historical Plank Road. . . ..F if ty year shave passed and t he y e ar is 1852. The popul ation of Whitby exceeded six thousand, and in 1855 Whitby became the County Town of the new County of Ontario, which previousl ywasa par t of York Coun ty. W i t h the advantage of our excel- lent Port Whitby Harbour, we became Toronto's greatest r ival in the expor ts ofagricultural products and lumber on the North shore of Lake Ontario. Export, 1852 Pork 62 bbls. Flour 35, 337 bbis. Ashes 549 bbis. Wheat 107, 101 bushels Oats 5, 466 bushels Oatmeal 83 bbls. Peas 84 bbls. Timothv Seed 274 bushels Panel Doors 52 cases Shingles 241, 000 Lumber 1, 745, 000 feet. Bran 4, 500 Ibs. Pipe Staves 17, 700 W. India Staves 457, 210 Butter 200 firkins Wool 59 bales Salora tus (bicarbonate Soda) Cord Wood 1, 200 cords Sundries 420 pkgs. TOTAL VALUE 71, 000 English Pounds Sterling Whitby was now e nt e ring the 1ast half of the 19th century as a prosper- ous and-thriving community assured of a secure future, supported by two thri- ving industries, with unmatched road development of that early period pro- viding wagon team transport facilities- from the h ear t of Ontario County's developing lumber and great farm ar- eas, directlyto Port Whitby's Harbour for both storage in our two excellent grain elevators and export. RUMMAGE SALE. Whitby Arena Wednesday - Oct 13th. 1:30 to 9:OOp.m. Sponsored by Womens' Auxiliary of Dr. J. O. Ruddy Hospital 13 KING ST. WEST OSHAWA, ONTARIO PHONE 579-1242 KARL A. BLAKOLMER DISPENSING OPTICIAN THE GILBRAITH ELEVATOR THE WATSON ELEVATOR What a great achievement for our f i r st pioneer settlers and their fam- i lies to witness, all relaxed in their la r ge and small farm homes, resting on the great acres of 1land they had c I e ared of the great forests of trees with their own hands and crude tools of t h a t age. Land that now was pro- ducinggreat crops, at least equalling in the matter of yield of wheat per a- cre, an established new record of forty bushels to the acre, previously unknown in upper or lower Canada. The beauty of our county A motor trip east,. west and north dur ing these beautiful autumn days over al our main highways and rural country roads, will soonmake you realize that our 19th century pioneers did not reck- lessly clear the land in this county of all its trees. As each individual farm was surveyed, you will see the beaut- iful Canad i an maples standing out am o n g a variety of other fine trees, 1 ining the perimeter of many farms and lanes from the front drive gate to the house, and for miles along the sides of t h e r o a ds f a r into North County 1 im i ts. As y ou p a s s Brooklin when driving north, you are on a high ele- v a t ion of land. On any bright, sunny day, look high in the distance, above the tree tops and see the high hills and great ridges acting as a pictures- q u e b a ckground to a beautiful land- scaped country si de. lI the w inter mon- ths, those hills and ridges change in beauty to a snowcovered background. THE PTICAL BOUTRUE 'aomuf- 14111JM PRESCRIPTION EYEGLASSES, SUNGLASSES, ALL OPTICAL ACCESSORIES - ALL THE LATEST STYLES FROM THE LEADERS IN EYEWEAR FASHION.