We were unable to record a new segment this week. The plan is to return to schedule next Friday!
Until then, we’ll rewind one of our most popular editions. We originally covered these three local hamlets on Thursday, December 30th, 2021.
Enjoy!
For the latest street name history segment, we decided to cover local hamlets.
Each week, we dive into the stories behind local street names. This is thanks to the tremendous work done by Milton Historical Society President John Challinor. If you weren’t aware, Challinor and the late great historian, Jim Dills, wrote the book on Milton street names, having written Milton Streets back in 2007.
Milton is surrounded by a number of smaller hamlets with their own unique history. This was first proposed by Regional Councillor for Milton’s Ward One, Colin Best.
Cedar Hedge Road and the rural clusters of Boyne, Omagh and Drumquin?
— Councillor Colin Best (@Colin1Best) December 13, 2021
Challinor shares the story behind Boyne.
Our second local hamlet is known as Drumquin. Challinor says it was named after Drumquin, Ireland – the birthplace of its first inhabitants. It was fairly common for early settlers name their new village after the place they left behind. Thomas Patterson founded and named Drumquin in 1820. A store and tavern were established by 1858. Those were then followed by a post office and blacksmith shop in 1877. You can now find Drumquin at the corner of Trafalgar Road and Britannia Road.
The namesake for Drumquin in Milton is also near the namesake of our next local hamlet: Omagh. Challinor explains the story of the name.
All three of the Milton hamlets covered here by Challinor are being planned for extensive development. The land north of Britannia Road along Regional Road 25 is known as the Boyne Survey Secondary Plan. It has already seen development, while south of there has been labelled as the Britannia Secondary Plan. Similar kinds of development are expected for Drumquin and Omagh, including a park.
UPDATE – Development talks are still continuing even in 2025!
These areas are planned to help bring Milton and Halton to their respective growth goals established the province of Ontario.
If you’re looking to understand how Milton’s streets were named, you should check out the book written by Challinor and Dills. Published by the Milton Historical Society back in 2007, it sold out in about six weeks and has since been long out of print. That said, according to Challinor, you can still find a copy at the Milton Public Library. With nearly 15-years having passed since the initial publication, and the extensive town growth in that time, an updated book is likely to come.
You can also take a walk with the late Jim Dills down Milton’s Main Street in 2002.
If you have a suggestion on what you’d like to learn about next week, let us know! We’re currently working on names that we find interesting, as well as suggested names. You can message our Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram page, or even email us at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. Otherwise, we’ll just continue asking about local street names that interest us.
If you have a news tip or story idea, you can now send us a heads up via email at:
- News1013@LocalRadio.ca (Milton)
- News1015@LocalRadio.ca (Orangeville)
- News92@LocalRadio.ca (South Simcoe)
If you’d like to get ahold of me personally, shoot me a message at Cameron.Wilkinson@LocalRadio.ca. We’re in the business of content creation, so no idea is a bad idea.
