final Winter 2010 - Heritage Mississauga

The Lost Village of Richview
By Nicole Mair
Have you traveled along to the intersection of Highway 401 and
Highway 427, and noticed the small cemetery lodged off to the side
surrounded by on ramps? This isolated pioneer cemetery is one of
the few remnants left today of
the village once known as
Richview.
The village of Richview was a
border village, located partly
in Toronto Township, partly in
Toronto Gore, with some
residents living in York West.
It was officially named
Richview when the village
post office opened February 6,
1852.
The first postmaster was John Davis, who worked from 1852 until
he resigned in 1865. He was followed by Robert M. Burgess, who
was postmaster from 1865 until the year of his death in 1876. Miss
Jennie Burgess, postmistress from 1876 to resignation in 1886,
succeeded Robert Burgess. The post office was moved at that time
from Toronto Township to Etobicoke Township, to the southwest
corner of concession 3, where David Watt took over as postmaster
until 1906. Louis La Rose was the next postmaster from 1906 to
1911. The last postmaster was James Peacock who ran the post
office from March 1911 to July 1911, when it finally closed. Prior
to the post office, mailbags were dropped from passing trains and a
local farmer delivered the mail.
The first Richview School was a log structure built in 1838. It was
located on the west side of Martingrove Road, north of Eglinton
Avenue. The second school was built in 1849 on land donated by
Isaac and Ann Stonehouse. It was located east of Martingrove
Road. The third school was a one-room schoolhouse built in 1874.
It was on the northwest corner of Eglinton Avenue and Martingrove
Road on land donated by Matthew and Janet Canning. The third
school was demolished and replaced in 1915 by a new two-storey
building. It then closed down in 1957. The fifth and final Richview
school operated from 1963-1981.
There were two cemeteries in
connection with the village of
Richview. The first one, the
Old Second Line Cemetery
also known as the Stonehouse
Cemetery, is located on the
east side of Martingrove
Road, north of Eglinton
Avenue. The second one, the
Richview Cemetery, is
located on land surrounded by
Highway 27, Highway 401
and Eglinton Avenue.
Richview, 1877 Peel Atlas
Richview Cemetery Plaque, HM
Richview United Church was the first church in the community.
Joseph Stonehouse sold the northwest corner of his farm for the
church to be built on, in 1839. The church trustees for the Richview
United Church were John Chambers, Mark Dawson, Robert
Gracey, John Tuer, William Jolly, Robert Stonehouse, Robert
Stonehouse Jr., James Stonehouse, Joseph Stonehouse and Isaac
Stonehouse. New congregations soon after developed in Richvew.
First, a Union chapel was built by Mark Dawson, Robert Coulter
and William Tuer on land donated by William Knaggs in 1853.
The chapel was located on the southwest corner of Highway 427
and Eglinton Avenue. In 1886, more land was purchased from
Knaggs' farm and a new red brick church was built (on the south
side of Richview Cemetery), it became known as Richview
Methodist Church. At different periods in time the church was part
of the Etobicoke and Malton circuits also included, at varying
times, churches at Burnhamthorpe, Sharon, Bethany, Trinity
(Dixie Road and Elmbank Sideroad) and Thistletown. The Church
offered many activities to local residents throughout the years. In
the early 1920s the Church held oyster suppers, in the 1930s there
were crokinole tournaments and concerts took place at Christmas
time. Sunday school picnics were held at Centre Island in the
1920s, Eldorado Park on the Credit River in the 1930s and later in
Peel Park in Streetsville. The final services at Richview Methodist
Church were held on February 13, 1959.
A second congregation met at the
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, built on
land donated by Robert Stonehouse
around 1853. The congregation was
absorbed into the Union Chapel in
1868, and the building existed until
1880.
Garden parties were held at the
Gracey's, on the Fourth Line, with
entertainment provided by local talent.
Refreshments were also served at the
Gracey's parties including strawberries
and ice cream for dessert. Richview
also had its own Women's Institute,
founded in 1914. The first meeting was
held in Mrs. Ed Stonehouse's home and
the first president was Mrs. Oliver
Dixon.
Richview Methodist
Church, c1920, HM
A popular sporting event in Richview was the ploughing match.
The earliest record of a ploughing match is November 16, 1864 and
it took place on John Davis' farm. Apparently the date coincided
with a heavy snowfall, leaving six inches of snow on the land. The
residents quickly improvised and cleared plots of land for the
ploughmen. Each contestant had a ¼ acre of land and four hours to
complete his work.
There was a community brass band around 1875, which included
members of the Knaggs and Thirkle families. William Knaggs
was a noted violin maker. According to an article, published in
honour of William Knaggs' passing in a 1921 edition of The Globe
and Mail: the Knaggs were “said to be among the oldest violin
makers in Canada. For more than a hundred years some of
Canada's finest fiddles have come from the Knaggs workshop”.
Louis La Rose ran a butcher shop and Christopher Thirkle ran a
blacksmith shop. David Watt took over the blacksmith shop after
1890. James Peacock was the local carpenter. Thomas Whitehouse
kept the tollgate on the plank road that passed through the village.
Some of the main farming families at Richview were Agar,
Bigham, Canning, Coulter, Dawson, Dixon, Gracey, Thirkle,
Middlebrook, Peacock, Pearson and Stonehouse. During the
1920s and 1930s some of the farming families grew tomatoes for
Campbell Soup Company.
Cont’d pg. 15
4 WINTER VOL. 23 / ISSUE 1
HERITAGE NEWS