Local History

Centre Hastings comprises the old Township of Huntingdon and the Village of Madoc.

In common with many of the townships of Eastern Ontario, Huntingdon’s early settlement was a direct result of the American Revolution. Some 70 000 Americans fled the rebellious colonies after the war and some 50 000 of these came to Nova Scotia and to
Canada.

The first generation loyalists settled on the shores of Lake Ontario. Their sons moved inland to Huntingdon in search of rich farmland. They found it but it didn’t come easily! The land had to be cleared of the huge hardwood forest they found. Some of the timber was used to build homes and barns but a great deal of it was piled up and burned. One octogenarian descendent of an early settler writes in 1945:

“When my father and his brothers grew to manhood they made ready money by making potash and selling it in Belleville. They would first chop from five to ten acres of hardwood into logs about twelve feet long. Using oxen they would draw the logs together, pile them in big heaps and when they were dry, burn them to ashes. They then took lumber and made a leach in the shape of a “V”; filled the leach with ashes and poured water in on top of the ashes. The lye, which ran from the ashes, was caught in potash kettles and boiled into potash. This potash was their export product. We export butter and cheese. They exported potash”.

The British government, faced with the ownership of vast tracts of land peopled only by Indians and French, offered free land to British settlers. As a result many of the families living in Huntingdon are descendents of U.E.L’s (United Empire Loyalists) and other settlers from Scotland ,Ireland and England who immigrated during the same time period in response to the free land offer. The names of the early settlers reflect this mix of Brit and UEL; Harvey, Fleming, Roy, McMullen, Archibald, Wood, Ray, Byrnett, McKee, Shaw, Rollins, Emo, Dunning, Dunhame, Stout, Rutledge, Rawson, Carscallen, Tummon, Ketcheson, Mitz, Chapman, Reid, King, Lidster, Prest, and Gauen.


The last named, Henry Gauen was a member of the McClure expedition that searched for the ill-fated Sir John Franklin. As had the Franklin expedition in search of the Northwest Passage, the McClure expedition ignored the wisdom of the Inuit and braved out the Arctic winter in typical British fashion, complete with stiff upper lip and incredible bravery. Gauen was awarded a medal for his efforts. He died in 1899 and is buried beside highway 62 just north of Ivanhoe.

The village of Madoc was originally known as McKenzie Mills. The mills, constructed about 1832 by Donald McKenzie, a Belleville merchant and the iron works formed the nucleus of a settlement here on Deer creek. A post office, Madoc, was established in 1836 and the hamlet grew gradually, stimulated by lumbering, farming, and the opening of the Hastings Colonization Road (1854), which ran north from Madoc Township.

Following the nearby discovery of gold-bearing quartz in 1866 it became a bustling centre, which by 1868 contained 1000 inhabitants and numerous industries, including a rock-crushing mill. Madoc was incorporated as a village in 1877. Fluorite and talc have both been mined in the area and marble is still being quarried.

Madoc prides itself on being the heart of Centre Hastings and is well worth visiting to experience a vibrant downtown in a small town atmosphere.

Madoc in 1904

A Visit to Fuller

At one time Fuller was a thriving town based on logging and agriculture. It even had its own school house. This is a picture of the old school house before it was it was repaired and restored by its present owner. To see it in its present condition, take a drive to Fuller.

This old admission ticket attests to the fact that a good time was had in Fuller. You can have a good time too. Rawdon Creek travels through Fuller and has a native population of brook trout.

To visit Fuller, take Hollowview Road east from Hwy 62, turn left at Carson Road and go a short distance north to Fuller Road. From Hwy. 37, take Marrisett Road west, turn left to go a short distance on Rapids Road, and then turn right to proceed west on Fuller Rd.