Village of Midhurst

In 1825, the government of Upper Canada issued to George Oliver, Thomas Mair and John Mair a location ticket for Lot 12, Concession 4, Vespra Township. Lot 12, which today  encompasses the older part of Midhurst, was at that time a 200-acre tract of forested  wilderness.  

The location ticket allowed the three men to settle on Lot 12 and to eventually receive title  to the property, but subject to various conditions. Most significantly, they were required to  build and operate a grist mill, open to the public, for grinding grain into flour. First though,  they built a sawmill on Willow Creek in 1825, which then produced lumber for building the  grist mill and other structures such as dwellings and sheds. The grist mill in turn, the first  one north of Holland Landing, was reportedly in operation by about 1827.  

This was the beginning of Midhurst. These first mills attracted other enterprises. Over the  ensuing months, years and decades, this bustling mill centre, originally known as Oliver’s  Mills, grew to include additional mills, a distillery, a soap factory, a blacksmith, a  wheelwright, a store, churches, a school, the township hall, and a post office. It even  became the site, in 1888, of the region’s first electricity-generating plant, powered by  Willow Creek too, which lit Barrie’s first electric streetlights. Midhurst has continued to  evolve and grow, and after 200 years is still going strong!

For more information, please check out this article written by local community member Greg Barker in the Springwater News.