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Meaford, laid out in 1845The founding

Meaford is named after a house. William Gibbard, laying out the lots in 1845, called it after Meaford Hall in Staffordshire, England, the home of the Earl of St. Vincent. That is also where the township got its name, and it is why the theatre on Sykes Street is called Meaford Hall. The whole town is named after somebody else's front door, three and a half thousand miles away.

  1. 1837St. Vincent Township petitions the government to reserve the land at the mouth of the Bighead River as a landing place.
  2. 1840David Miller builds the first cabin on one of the reserved town lots.
  3. 1841A sawmill and a grist-mill are up on adjoining land, roads run to the landing, and a post office opens under the name St. Vincent.
  4. 1845The town plot is laid out and William Gibbard, subdividing the lots, gives it its name.
  5. 1865The post office is renamed Meaford. By now there is steamer and road service to the railhead at Collingwood.
  6. 1874Meaford is incorporated as a town.
On the plaque, word for word

In 1837 inhabitants of St. Vincent Township petitioned the government requesting that land at the mouth of the Bighead River be reserved as a landing place. The land was set aside, a town plot of “Meaford” laid out in 1845, and lots subsequently offered for sale. As early as 1841 a sawmill and a grist-mill had been built on adjoining land, several roads constructed to the landing and a post office called “St. Vincent” established.

In 1865 this post office was re-named “Meaford”, which by that time had become a flourishing community, connected by steamer and road with the railhead at Collingwood. Meaford was incorporated as a town in 1874.

It stands at the southeast corner of sykes street north and collingwood street. Go and read it.

From Ontario Heritage Trust, Founding of Meaford plaque and Meaford Museum.

Meaford

 

A town on Georgian Bay that does not need to be advertised to you.

Open to the town

One Good Idea

You have one. Everybody does. Send it. Whatever you would build if somebody handed you the means. It gets read by a person and it stays yours.

Send yours

No name on it

Unsigned

Say the thing you would not put your name to. About the town, about Meaf, about me. Nothing is kept that could point back to you.

Say it

The harbour

 

Sand and silt had built up on the harbour bottom over the years, making parts of it too shallow. Dredging takes that material out so boats can get in and out safely.

Closed
The RV sanitary dump station
Access can change
Parking, and the vehicle and pedestrian routes around the harbourBoat launch accessCamping accessPavilion rental accessSome harbour services
Still open
WashroomsThe fish cleaning stationThe harbour itselfThe boat launchCampingPavilion rentals

In the water from August 17 to September 18. Work on site expected until about October 15. From meaford.ca and dredgingtoday.com.

One Good Idea

Every idea the town has sent in, ordered by how many people have looked at it. Nobody is hiding the numbers.

Nothing is up yet. The first idea to go on the site gets the top of this board to itself.