Main Page > Coming Events > Doors Open
Doors Open: Brussels Introduction Site Submissions BRUSSELS WAS ORIGINALLY called Ainleyville, named after one of the first settlers, William Ainley, who laid out a town site on the Maitland River in 1855. The official name of the Post Office was Dingle, named after Ireland's Dingle Peninsula, perhaps. When the Southern Extension of the Great Western Railway line opened in December of 1872, the station at the north edge of town was named Brussels. Only days later, when the village was officially incorporated, its name was also changed to Brussels. The Post Office followed suit soon after. By 1880, the village had a popula-tion of 1000. In its heyday, the village had mills of every sort-planing, gristing, flouring, saw-powered by water and steam. The last of these, the Logan Mill, located on the site of an earlier mill complex owned and oper-ated by Vanstone & Sons, closed in 1967. The town's millpond is a reminder of an industry that once flourished here. In 1878, the Brussels Steam Fire Engine & Agricultural Works was established with J.D. Ronald as its proprietor. It made steam fire engines, the celebrated "Vibrator" pattern of separator sold across Canada and around the world, and castings for agricultural implements such as reapers and mowers. The busi-ness employed 40 to 50 men. Brussels also had a steam carding mill, a corset factory, a furniture factory, blacksmiths, carriage shops, pump factories, a tannery, a steam flax mill, merchant tailor establishments, milliners, boot and shoe makers, and dressmak-ing establishments. Of the many stores recorded in 1879 were six general stores, five groceries, two hardware stores, four tin and stove stores, four boot and shoe stores, two drug stores, two confectionaries, as well as several butchers and bakers. There were no fewer than five hotels, the grandest of which was the Queen's Hotel on Main Street. The village was served by two lawyers, three doctors and one dentist. The local newspaper, The Post, printed its first issue in July 1, 1873. The paper was run by the McGillicuddy brothers, Thomas and Daniel. After a struggle to establish itself, it became the longest-running newspaper in Brussels history. An early inhabitant of the area, grain dealer John Leckie, played an important part in the railway line coming to the village. He also lead the library board in the process of securing a grant to build a Carnegie Public Library. Leckie was the first Reeve of Brussels and served in this role for many years. In 1877, he became the first Brussels Reeve to be Warden of Huron County. Although it has a Belgian name, the village's population was largely Scots and Irish. The population in 1871 was 344. Within a decade, the village grew to about 1800 people. Over the years though, the population has settled at about 900. Between 1860 and 1875, the business section of the village was leveled by fire more than once. Many of the brick buildings built afterward still stand today, most notably Graham, Holmes, Fletcher, Little Bros., and Ament Blocks. The Queen's Hotel was a centrepiece on the main street. Belden described its "two projecting wings ... a handsome piazza of equal height with the main building, the centre topped by a lofty and highly ornamental rectang-ular tower." It was torn down in 1986. The first school was built in 1864. Another report indicates that a public school was built in 1872 with an addition made five years later. A new school was built in 1895 to house both the elementary and continuation students. The annual salary for a teacher in 1887 was $250. There were five teachers in 1888: Miss Sayers, Miss Hambly, Miss Richardson, Miss Anne Abraham, and Miss Taylor. The Central Hotel was located on the east side of Turnberry Street where the Liquor Store is now. The building was also once used as Cunningham's Garage. In 1863, Ainleyville had two hotels, The British Hotel, owned by Sim-on Powell, and The North American Hotel, owned by William Armstrong. And there was The Dingle Saloon, owned by John Graham. Belden reported five hotels in 1879. He mentions in particular The Queen's Hotel and Tecumseh House. At one time, there was also The Revere House just south of the railway tracks to the west of Turnberry Street and The Central Hotel on the east side of the main street. The earliest electrical power in the village was provided by a steam-powered generating plant located on the southern bank of the Maitland River on Turnberry Street. The date of its start isn't clear, but in the September 27, 1889 edition of The Brussels Post, its editor requested that council invest a little money for street lights. Brussels council voted in December to have six street lamps installed. The business had been in operation for some time when the Thuell Bros., Robert John and James, purchased it in about 1900. The steam generator created electrical power for carbon-arc street lamps, and a small number of homes. The plant usually ran from dusk until midnight-after that the village was in dark-ness until sunrise. Robert Thuell's son recalled his father turning the plant on Wednesday afternoons for those customers who wanted to do their ironing with electric irons. In the 1880s, the Brussels Salt Works was a thriving industry. The Smith Furniture Factory, operated by Thomas and Oliver Smith in the late 1880s, employed 30 men during the peak summer season, 14 year round. R. Leatherdale Furniture manufactured 25 bedroom suites a week in 1888. Also operating in the late 1880s were the New Queen's Shoeing and Carriage Shops, and the East Huron Carriage Works. Mrs. William Ballantyne and son opened an Egg Emporium in April of 1888, George Love & Co. began an implement business and James Broadfoot's Econ-omy Restaurant served meals, any hour of the day or evening, for 20¢.
© HuronEast.com, 2004-2008

Designed and maintained by Design Heaven.