Welcome to Hampton History 101

UPDATE APRIL 2004: Hampton Heritage Buildings and Gallery added. (see Nav buttons on left)

I would like to take you back  to February 1825. It was a very, very cold winter in Darlington. One snowfall of 4 feet. At this time there were practically no settlers in the township of Darlington except along the waterfront. In 1829 there were only 350 inhabitants. Wm. Lee of Clarke had begun the erection of a mill on the creek about 5 miles north of Bowmanville, with John Allin as builder. Mr. Elliott saw an opportunity to go into business for himself with the opening up of the center and rear of the township, and bought from Mr. Lee his property of 60 acres through which flowed the creek. The nearest house to the south was that of Duncan Malcom two miles away on the road to Darlington, (today Bowmanville), along the westside of the creek. Farther up the creek on the next concession Michael Cryderman, the grandfather of J. Hebert Cryderman, had build and was operating a saw mill. The Scugog road was not opened until about 10 years later. The deed to the property Lee to Elliott is dated August 15th 1840. While still working for Bowman and Co. Mr. Elliott moved the frame of the mill out to the west bank of the creek. During 1841 the machinery was brought from Cobourg and the millstone from Port Hope, a tub wheel was installed for power, and the mill began operation in the fall of 1841 with a capacity of 40-50 bushels a day. Entries in the mills account books show purchases of wheat at 4 pound 9 shilling and rye 2 pounds 3 shillings per bushel in October 1841. Next I will reveal to you all the business transactions of the Elliott Mill. This historical data was reprinted by the Canadian Statesman in January 1937.

Some more recent events that changed the face of Hampton.
The Hampton Junior Public School was erected in 1955 on Ormiston Street and was later expanded WITH an addition in 1969. The Municipal Offices of Hampton were erected in 1958 on the West side of Scugog Street. In 1975, Hampton became recognized as a village actively involved in sports through the erection of the Darlington Sports Centre.Many elements of pre-1900’s vintage still exist at the present time in Hampton. The village plan and layout of the streets has remained essentially the same.  The Canadian Northern Railway that withdrew its services in the 1930’s left behind a legacy of bridge towers and clear areas of land. Buildings in which businesses were housed are still present. The building, which was once the Hampton Creamery, still stands. The home and wagon shop of Cephas Johns is still occupied. The hotel, which was once situated where today’s United Church stands, was moved in 1873. The hotel was partially disassembled in the mid 1900’s and what remains on its site now is the home of Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Balson.  Mr. Balson agreed to let us know all about his special home, it has a most remarkable history.

In our village, now called Hampton, the first Darlington Township Hall was constructed in 1855.   In 1856 the Cambrian Wollen Mills was established. This business was located a mile and a half out of the village. There were six hands employed at the mill and a "very extensive business"  was done. It is important to mention that in 1853, William Vanstone , who owned a waggoneers shop, sold his property to Cephas Johns, who maintained the shop for about 30 years. In 1858 the ambitious Henry Elliott built again, this time it was a building block design to house a general store. The village of Hampton contained, in 1865, two general stores, one grocery, three shoe shops, two wagon shops, one blacksmith shop, one tailor shop, two cooper shops, one cabinet shop, on tannery, two hotels, and one school. The school house, when first constructed, was intended for use as a hotel but later the decision was made to use it as a hall of learning. West of Scugog Street, on 6th concession, the Hampton Creamery was constructed in 1870. In 1873, one of the hotels was moved to the south-east corner of Kerr and Scugog streets. This was done to facilitate the construction of the new Bible Christian Church during the year of 1874. This Church became a Methodist Chapel in 1884 and a United Church in 1925. Also in 1873, Mr. Katerson succeeded a Mr. James Cryderman and established an undertaking and furniture dealing business. I believe there is still some furniture from that time in some living rooms in Hampton.  As you can see, Hampton has a very interesting history. I hope this is not too dry but the interesting stories are still to come. All this information is from the Trent University Archives.

Our Post Office

In 1851, a Post Office was established at Hampton. At that time the name of the village was changed from Millville to Hampton. Mr Henry Elliott was the first Postmaster.
He and his son Henry Jr. were the Postmasters until 1915 except for a short period about 1895 when Frank Cole had this position. The two Elliotts' were Postmasters for almost 64 years!

In 1915, Mr. W.W. Horn was appointed Postmaster, a position he held until 1937. During this period, the office was located on the east side of the street in the Horn Store which was destroyed by fire in the winter of 1983.

On March 18, 1937 George Barron was appointed Postmaster and the office moved across the street to Barron's Store. His son H.A. (Pete) Barron succeeded him on March 26, 1945. On August 17, 1971 the Post Office was moved to the new federal building on Temperance Street, now called appropriately Millville Avenue. Pete Barron moved in with the new office. In September 1981, Mr. Barron retired and was succeeded by Mr. Blair Moffat as Acting Postmaster.

Mrs. Nancy Pella was appointed Postmistress on January 4th, 1982. Mr. Salter, Mr. Greenway and Mrs. Elaine Wotten were the rural mail Contractors for many years on the Hampton R.R. No.1.

When the Enniskillen Post Office was closed in 1986, the mail for the customers of that community was transferred and delivered from Hampton. We hope our Post Office will remain in our community for many years to come.

Georg Krohn.

More detailed history is found here (updated to this site on March 2003)