В Штате Сент-Клер установлены памятные знаки, увековечивающие исчезнувшие исторические поселения

Many of the early settlements and hamlets of St. Clair Township may largely be gone, but now they're not forgotten. Author of the article: Paul Morden Published Sep 06, 2026  •  Last updated 7 hours ago  •  2 minute read Article content Many early St. Clair Township settlements and hamlets largely may be gone, but now they’re not forgotten. Article content Since 2019, Heritage St. Clair has been installing signs at early hamlets around the municipality formed two decades ago by the merging of Moore and Sombra townships. The final three signs went up recently marking the end of the project. Article content Recommended Videos Article content A total of 27 signs were placed during the years by the township’s works department on behalf of the municipality’s heritage committee. The final three heritage hamlet signs went up at Sutherland’s Landing, Sykeston and Payne. “They just wanted to mark and commemorate, basically, the pioneers of the township,” chairperson Tracy Kingston said about the motivation of the committee members who initiated the project. Each sign includes the year the settlement was founded. In many cases, the post office, church, school and other buildings once found in the hamlets are now gone, and there’s little left to indicate the former settlement. But, Kingston said, “there’s still a lot of family roots” in the township and those passing through the former settlements may see the heritage signs and think of ancestors connected with the communities. Article content “They weren’t always villages or towns,” she said about the locations that received a heritage hamlet sign. The main criteria to be part of the project was that the community once had a post office, church or school, Kingston said. Sutherland’s Landing, on the St. Clair River between Mooretown and Courtright, was established in 1833 by Thomas Sutherland, said the Moore Museum website. It began with a dock to sell wood to passing ships and by 1846 also had a tavern, a doctor, store, two blacksmiths, a tailor, shoemaker, school and a church. Today, only a cemetery remains. “It’s only by recognizing our heritage and historical elements that today’s population, especially children, have any understanding of the effort and the hardship early settlers had,” Dave Pattenden, a previous committee chairperson, said when the project was launched in 2019. Heritage St. Clair receives funding from the township for its projects and the sign initiative also received financial support early on from Lambton’s Creative County fund. Article content Leading up to Christmas last year, the committee sold smaller versions of hamlet signs and may do so again this year, Kingston said. “People were very excited about them,” she said. The committee also has been working on installing heritage storyboards at some of the township’s early cemeteries, Kingston said. Recently, a storyboard was installed at the Grace Cemetery at Colinville, one of the heritage hamlets where a sign was installed, she said. “We’ve got lots of storyboards, too, marking different settlements,” Kingston said. Another project being considered is collecting church cookbooks from the past and producing a book with a history of the churches, along with a recipe from each, Kingston said. “That will take a really long time,” she said. [email protected] Article content