Strolling past vacant storefronts in downtown Palmerston in 2015, it’s hard to believe that over 100 years ago early settlers predicted it would grow to rival the size and influence of Hamilton.
With the village currently sitting at a population of 2,500, it becomes obvious the ambitious founders were a little off the mark.
However, as Palmerston native Chad Martin hopes to prove, the little Irish settlement has a history equally as rich and interesting as the larger centres that sprung up around it.
Starting this month, Martin will be showcasing his collection of Palmerston artifacts – entitled No One Goes to Palmerston Ontario – at the Wellington Museum and Archives, in part to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the town, while also bringing recognition to a community he feels is often lost in the shuffle.
The collection got its start in 1998 when his grandmother gave him a box of old photographs and he became concerned many of the other items that chronicle the story of his hometown would be lost.
“I’ve worked in the museum field for a number of years so the concept of collecting and preserving history is always something I’ve been interested in,” Martin said.
“I started noticing that there was all this stuff out there and really it was a fear that it was getting lost and if it wasn’t being sold on eBay, then it was going to be thrown out.”
Since then Martin has obtained over 200 postcards and a variety of objects that provide a unique glimpse into Palmerston’s history – not surprisingly, most are related in some way to the railroad.
Martin says so much information can be gleaned from a postcard; the picture itself only scratches the surface.
“I always like to think that postcards are like our Twitter and Facebook today. They’re short little messages – the kind of things people would send as a text,” he said.
“It’s neat being able to connect those histories and tidbits of information with what was going on in the town.”
Palmerston’s heyday was short-lived, according to Martin, with its growth and prosperity largely limited to the 1870s and 1880s with construction of the train station.
“Between 1873 and ’74 the town population went from 300 to 1,600 simply because the railway announced they were building in the town,” he explained. “It was like a gold rush in a sense.”
At the time, Palmerston was a major connection to port cities such as Owen Sound and Southampton, attracting many ambitious entrepreneurs who established businesses along Norman Street so products could be easily transferred to outgoing trains.
However, as transportation improved, more direct routes were established between the ports and the Greater Toronto Area, negating Palmerston’s role.
“People realized they could take it right from Southampton to Hamilton just as quickly and easily and cheaper than taking it to Palmerston first,” Martin said. “So a lot of those businesses ended up failing and by 1900 everything started declining.”
Before that point, Martin says Palmerston had been slated for greatness.
“At one point people said that Palmerston was going to compete on the same level as Hamilton,” he said. “It was even said in the Stratford Beacon Herald in 1882 that Palmerston was becoming a transportation hub and if you wanted your business to be successful, you wanted to locate in Palmerston.”
Martin said after the initial boom, Palmerston settled around the turn of the century into the modern town seen today; however, many have forgotten its history. He hopes the exhibit will encourage people to dig deeper.
“I’m hoping someday, someone is going to walk in here who’s never heard of Palmerston and they’re going to see something and say, ‘Oh that’s interesting’,” he says. “It’s just getting that appreciation for my home.”
When asked about the highly contested pronunciation of the town’s name (Pam-erston or Palm-erston), Martin just laughs.
“I get that all the time,” he says. “I remember as a kid always cringing and thinking it’s a country bumpkin thing to say, but it’s actually the old Irish way – it’s an Irish word.”
Martin says the town was named for former prime minister of England, Lord Palmerston. Due to his Irish roots, many referred to him as “Old Pam” after a parish called “Pammer’s town” in Dublin.
“There’s still people who say ‘Pamerston’ but it’s aging out unfortunately,” he said.
Aside from sparking interest in the town’s history, Martin says his goal is to digitize the items and make them more easily accessible for members of the public, along with museums lacking the budget and space to purchase them.
“The Palmerston museum will have copies of everything I’ve done, from research to materials, as well as the Wellington County Museum,” he says. “I want to make sure that everyone has the recorded history.”
As far as the collection’s name goes, Martin says it has been a running joke in the community for years – a play on the postal code NOG 2PO. He says it is an epithet in some ways unfairly given.
“It’s one of those places that really is in the middle of nowhere. There’s no real direct way to get to it and nowadays there’s no real reason to go,” he said.
“It’s always had an isolationist mentality, but they’ve always been very proud of what they do. It’s nice to have something like this and put a little recognition out there.”
Museum curatorial assistant Amy Dunlop, has been working with Martin for a few months and says bringing in personal collections helps broaden the scope of the museum and touch on lesser-known subjects.
“Chad is a passionate collector, researcher and writer and we’re extremely excited to share his collection of history of this rural community with our visitors,” said Dunlop. “Palmerston is often under represented at the museum so it’s nice to highlight a place in the northern part of the county.”
The NOG 2PO exhibit runs from Jan. 17 through May 10.
The museum is located on Wellington Road 18 between Fergus and Elora.
