Halton Hills Shopping

 Shopping

Both Acton and Georgetown have thriving Main Streets with a variety of shops, professional services, restaurants. churches and more.

The Farmers Market is a very popular summer attraction that runs from June to October downtown on Saturday mornings. The Market hosts many local Ontario vendors that sell their crops and prepared food. There are also other events that change every week and buskers that provide other entertainment.

The main shopping center is The Georgetown Marketplace, the mall recently went through major renovations and added many more stores such as Sportchek and Mark’s.
 

Georgetown Sports & Recreation

Recreation

One of the strong points of living in Georgetown is the natural beauty that you are constantly surrounded by.  There are many parks and recreational outdoor areas such as Cedarvale Park which is close to the downtown area and boasts a Frisbee golf course, soccer fields, and a leash free dog park. To learn more about Georgetown parks click here.

In Georgetown, you also have access to many trails where you can witness the natural beauty of Halton Hills. One of the more notable trails is located around the Hungry Hallow near the bridge that connects the main part of Georgetown to the south.  The trails weave both east and west of Mountianview road but goes much farther on the east side for the more adventurous goes up towards Norval. The Hungry Hallow forest itself cuts through Georgetown and follows Silver Creek, a creek that feeds into the Credit River. Almost directly north of Georgetown you can find a Bruce Trail Side Trail and traveling a short distance to Limehouse will take you to the Bruce Trail itself.

For more on trails around Georgetown click here.

Sports

In Georgetown people are very passionate about sports, the highest level sports that are watched in Georgetown are the hockey team the JR. A Raiders, and the Lacrosse team the JR.B Bulldogs.

There are also “house leagues” for many sports for children and teens with leagues like the Georgetown Soccer Club, the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association,Georgetown Baseball Association, and Halton Hills Minor Lacrosse Association.  

Georgetown has a wide assortment of sports fields located in all parts of the town, the more notable ones include the baseball diamonds and soccer fields at the Gellert Center, Trafalgar Sports Field, Barber Park, Cedarvale Park and the Croatian Center. One of the main sports complexes in town is Moldmaster Sportsplex (formerly Alcott Arena) that boasts 4 ice rinks that are converted to lacrosse floors in the summer. There are also various tennis courts in town including one at Moldmaster Sportsplex as well as Joseph Gibbons Park. 
 

For golf lovers, there's Georgetown's private course, North Halton Golf Club which is is located off of Maple Avenue close to the downtown area, Eagle Ridge Golf Club a Club Links course, located on 10th Line north of Mayfield/17 Sdrd and Hornby Glen a public course located off of Trafalgar Road just outside of town towards Steeles Avenue. 

Acton Sports & Recreation

Recreation

Like in Georgetown, Acton is surrounded by tons of natural beauty, the streets are lined by trees making the town very easy on the eyes. Also like Georgetown, there are many parks and small trails in town such as Prospect Park which sports baseball diamonds, a soccer field, and a leash free zone for dogs.. To learn more about Acton parks click here.

Acton also has several small trails in town and nearby including Prospect Park Trail and Wallace Trail. Just south of Acton, you can find the Guelph Radial Trail, a more advanced trail that hooks up with the main part of the east and heads towards Guelph to the west. Almost directly east of Acton you can find a Bruce Trail Side Trail and traveling a short distance to Limehouse will take you to the Bruce Trail itself. For more on trails around Acton click here.

Sports

To keep the youth active there are many sports leagues to join in Acton. The major competitive sports to watch and participate in are the Halton Hills Thunder hockey teams, the Halton Hills Eagles baseball teams, and the Halton Hills Jr. B Bulldogs Lacrosse. There are also “house leagues” for many sports for children and teens with leagues like theGeorgetown Soccer Club, the Acton Minor Hockey Association, Acton Minor Baseball Association, and Halton Hills Minor Lacrosse Association.  
 

Acton has a wide assortment of sports fields located in all parts of the town, the more notable ones include the Hockey Arena, baseball diamonds and soccer fields at the Acton Sports Park, Prospect Park, Sir Donald Mann Park, Acton Rotary Park and Tanners Drive. There are also tennis courts in town at Prospect Park. For golf lovers, Blue Springs is located just outside of town, and Acton Golf Club is located just northwest of town on Dublin Line.

Georgetown History

Brief History of Georgetown Ontario Canada

In 1781 the British Government started purchasing land from the Mississauga Nation and in 1818, they bought what are now the townships of Esquesing and Nassagaweya. Charles Kennedy was hired to survey the northern part of the townships and received land as payment for his work.

In 1781 the British Government started purchasing land from the Mississauga Nation and in 1818, they bought what are now the townships of Esquesing and Nassagaweya. Charles Kennedy was hired to survey the northern part of the townships and received land as payment for his work.

The Kennedy’s were five brothers - Charles, John, Morris, Samuel and George. They all acquired land close to one another in the Silver Creek Valley. A few years later, their brother-in-law, Benajah Williams came and settled in the area that is now Glen Williams. Charles Kennedy built a sawmill in the area where Main Street meets Wildwood Road. George Kennedy built another mill off of the 10th line and that became the centre of a small settlement.

At the same time the Stewart Brothers had a prosperous mill a short distance to the west, in Esquesing Village, now called Stewarttown. It was on the main north-south route to the steamships at the Oakville harbour.

James McNab also had a prosperous mill in Norval.

In 1828, John Galt opened the road which connected the settlement around the three mills.
 

Barber Paper Mill, 1910

When the town gets its new name....Georgetown

Kennedy's Mill was prosperous and he added a grist mill, foundry and a woollen mill, using the power provided by Silver Creek. But the business slowed down, (which is where the nick-name 'Hungry Hollow' comes from) and around 1834-1837 George sold the mills to the Barber brothers.

It was about 1837 when the area became to be known as Georgetown. When Georgetown was booming, in the 1850s, George Kennedy had his land split into town lots and named the streets after his children. ( You thought naming the car after your kid was generous). He died in 1870. George Kennedy played an important part in transforming what had been farm land into a prosperous industrial town.

The Barber Brothers build a Mill

They produced more wallpaper than any other plant in the province, and that was only by 1850s! The Barbers were also the first manufacturers in North America to operate their mills by hydro electric power. The paper mill and the ruins of the electric dynamo can still be seen along the Credit River and I wonder what made the builder give up on his plans to rebuild the mill?
 

Grand Trunk Railway Station (1908) - Brings new opportunities for farmers

In May 1852 a rail route through Georgetown, Brampton and Weston to Toronto was announced and four years later, in 1856, after the Grand Trunk Railway was opened, Georgetown became the railroad centre. About 20 years later it was connected with the Hamilton and Northwestern Railway. In 1917 a rail connection to the Toronto Suburban Railway was inaugurated (also known as the Radial Line since it radiated out of the centre of Toronto). This was very important for Georgetown as it connected industry and farmers with the city. It also brought plenty of business to hotels such as the Railroad Exchange (still across from the railway station). The Clark and Bennett Houses were the hot spots of the time where traveling salesmen would close the deals with local farmers.

1900 Development - town growth spurt 

The town started to grow rapidly after the arrival of Rex Heslop who transformed the farms on the eastern edge of town into the Delrex subdivision. Heslop was a businessman and developer ( also built Rexdale, Etobicoke). He developed Georgetown’s oldest subdivision, Delrex, and to make sure his legacy would not be forgotten, he named the streets after himself: Rexway, Heslop, Delrex.

Rex ran into political problems and got tired of cat fighting so he sold his investments. By 1960 Georgetown had reached a population of 10 000 and a year later the community had its own hospital.
 

Main Street, Georgetown

Georgetown becomes part of Halton Hills 

Georgetown grew as new neighbourhoods were added. The oldest section is around Main Street and Church Street. The arrival of the railway produced a new section - around King Street and Queen Street. The Delrex subdivision was the third part of the town that was added. Shortly after Delrex and Moore Park were built.

In January 1, 1974, Georgetown, Acton, Milton, Oakville, Burlington and most of the Esquesing Township became part of the Regional Municipality of Halton. Which is now known as the Town of Halton Hills. New neighbourhoods grew: Georgetown South in 1989, Arbour Glen, Stewart Mills and Four Corners. And the town keeps flourishing.

Source:      GeorgetownOn.ca 
                   Historical photos provided by the Esquessing Historical Society  Visit Esquessing Historical Society

Acton History

A brief history of Acton Ontario Canada

For almost 150 years this place has been called Acton. It was 1844 when Robert Swan, our first postmaster, suggested this name to replace “Adamsville” (chosen in honour of the founders) and the original name, “Dansville”.

Photo of the Rev. Zena Adams — C.
1850 Photo Credit: Dills Collection

Rev. Ezra & the Adams Brothers

Acton was settled in 1825 by the Rev. Ezra, Rev. Zenas, and Rufus Adams. Saddlebag Methodist preachers, they retired to farm and rebuilt their strength, returning to the circuit in 1830. Zenas preached the first sermon ever delivered in the locality, just east of Acton, opposite Worden’s farm. Zenas held services at his home o n the corner of Main and Church Streets. Built of yellow pine about 1830, his home still stands. Zenas died in 1847.

Ezra, whose home stood near Bower Avenue later moved to Drayton. Rufus’ wife opened the Acton School in 1826 where the Knox Church now stands. The school also doubled as a Methodist Chapel. Rufus died in 1856 and his widow soon moved to Dundas.

A fourth brother, Eliphalet Adams later joined his brothers here. His son Phineas who died at age 31 in 1830 may have been the first grave behind the Chapel (Pioneer Cemetery – now behind Knox Church). Eliphalet, who died in 1844 had a younger son, Ransom, who was a bachelor businessman here until his death in 1880. He was the last Adams to reside in Acton.

The Adams brothers dammed up the creek to create the Mill pond which powered their saw mill and later the flour mill which operates on the same site today. The mill pond, named “Fairy Lake” by Sarah Secord, surrounds Prospect Park.

The 14 acres have served as the town park and fairgrounds since the village purchased it in 1889 for $3000. The stone pillars were erected in 1924 to celebrate 50 years of incorporation. The arena was erected in 1929 on the site of the army drill shed. The 1867 barn stands beside the arena and serves the Acton Agricultural Society as a Poultry barn at Fairtimes.

Main street was Acton’s principal thoroughfare in the early days. The Adams family laid out the streets in a grid pattern, naming them after family members. Then the boom began with the coming of the railroad. The first Grand Trunk train steamed through town in 1856.
 

Passengers waiting for a train at the train station — C.
1910 Photo Credit: A.T. Brown / Dills Collection

Highway 7

The Toronto-to-Guelph Road (Highway 7) also served as a main road. It was laid out in 1827. Main Street became Highway 25 as the automobile became king, causing passenger rail service to decline until November 1967 when Acton Station was closed. Limited service was reintroduced in 1987 although the station has long since been pulled down.

Tanneries - Leathertown

Acton adopted the theme of “Leathertown” in recent years and with good reason. The tanning industry began in 1842 under Abraham Nelles. By 1865, the Beardmore Tanning Company, a Hamilton tanner since 1844, purchased the business and became an integral part of the village.

An early look of Acton. This photo, taken by an Owen Sound photographer, shows the early Mill — C.
1850’s Photo Credit: Dills Collection

They built employee housing, tennis courts, a bowling green, a golf course, boathouse, ran a cooperative store, and the village outdoor arena on Frederick Street. At one time the tannery proclaimed itself as the largest in the British Empire. Canada Packers purchased it in 1944, operating under the Beardmore name until they closed it o n Sept. 12, 1986.

A look at the W.H. Storey Glove factory, once located on Bower Avenue, across Henderson’s Pond — C.
1910 Photo Credit: A.T. Brown / Dills Collection

Acton supported many industries related to leather, particularly the W.H. Storey glove factory on Bower Avenue. Begun in 1868, Storey employed up to 250 people. He built his family a magnificent home on the corner of Mill and John Streets in 1879. The Storey family left the house at the end of World War 1 when Wilfred Coles ran it as a veterans’ home.

The Storey Family home “Sunderland Villa”. This is currently the Mackinnon Family Funeral Home. Photo — C.
1900 Photo Credit: A.T. Brown / Dills Collection

It was a hotel until 1937 when it became a funeral home. Storey’s son sold the business in 1915 to H.T. Arnold of Georgetown who ran the glove business until 1954. The four storey factory was razed in 1962 to accommodate the new Acton post office.

Other tanneries prepared leather for companies like Hewetson Shoe, Coronna Shoe, Superior Glove, Marzo Glove and Frank Heller and Co., which confirmed Acton’s leather heritage.

Heller and Dawkins were instrumental in starting the Olde Hide House, Acton’s tourist attraction in one of Beardmore’s warehouses erected in 1899.

While leather was Acton’s mainstay, other companies like Acton Plow co., Building Products, H.K. Porter (Disston Saws), A.P. Green, Ajax Eng., Blow Press, Microplastics, Force Electic Mason Knitting, Dills Printing and Keates Organs have employed many.

A look at the Acton Town Hall during a social event — C.
1890’s Photo Credit: A.T. Brown / Dills Collection

Esquesing Township

Acton was part of Esquesing Township until 1874 when it was incorporated as a village. The Town Hall was erected in 1882 for the municipal council, the constabulary and the fire brigade. When Acton became part of Halton Hills in 1974, the hall was no longer needed.

Designated an historic building in 1977, it was eventually sold to Heritage Acton for one dollar. They are presently restoring the building which still includes the nineteenth century lockup. The other principal public buildings in Acton include its centennial projects: the Hydro offices, which were considerably enlarged in 1988-89 and the Public Library, whose park like setting includes a small arched bridge popular with photographers.

Pausing to read the historical marker at this site, it is worth noting that the small stream under the bridge was once responsible for supplying power to the mills of Acton, the very source of power that drew the Adams family to the site in the 1820s.

Source: Downtown Acton BIA - History of Acton