How much of Milton’s history do you know?
We’re continuing to dive into the local history behind Milton’s street names. There are two streets this week: Dewar Court and Shortreed Crescent. Last week, we covered Denyes Way, Shepherd Place, and the listener-suggested Byng Court.
We’re able to do this 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.
Starting off with Dewar Court, Challinor says it’s named after a Milton insurance salesman from the 1800s.
It was fascinating to hear that insurance was sold locally back in the 1800’s. Challinor says Dewar likely sold home and commercial insurance – which would have been needed with the amount of wood that was used in construction back then.
He adds that Duncan Dewar played a role in developing Milton in its early stages. That led to him being honoured with a street name.
Our second street this week is Shortreed Crescent. Challinor says it was named after a man who moved to Milton over 200 years ago.
John Shortreed ended up in agriculture and lumber. His family eventually developed the Milton steam mill in the 1870s.
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.
As a note, leading up to Remembrance Day, we’ll be covering streets named after local veterans. If you live on a street that has a poppy on its sign, we want to hear from you! Give us your suggestions so that we can do our best to help uncover the history of Milton’s bravest.
Hey, things are changing for us here at MiltonNow.ca! If you have a news tip or story idea, you can now send us a heads up via email at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. 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.
