TEVIOTDALE – A community which lies on the border between Perth County and Wellington County has more history than some may think.
At the Teviotdale Truck Stop at Wellington County Road 109, now stands a large sign describing six key historical features once located in the community.
These moments in time date back to 1865 and beyond.
“These are the pictures we thought gave an outline of Teviotdale,” Teviotdale history committee (THC) chair and founder Wayne Martin told the Advertiser.
The sign was put up on Sept. 4 and begins with details about the Teviotdale Speedway which opened on April 30, 1954 under the management of Charlie Greenley.
The location of the speedway was at the Northwest corner of Teviotdale off Hwy. 123 (23) coming from Palmerston.
According to the sign’s information the speedway operated Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. It ultimately closed in 1970, “an era of racing and family fun,” reads the sign.
“It started when I got some information out of the Wellington Advertiser about the history of Teviotdale,” Martin noted.
He gained research from a past Advertiser columnist, Stephen Thorning who wrote about events in the 1900s. According to Martin the two knew each other well.
Martin then brought the idea to Minto council a year and a half ago and quickly found like-minded people to create a committee.
“We called a lot of people for old photos and documents,” THC member Nancy Dietrich told the Advertiser.
After receiving plenty of historical information the committee had to come to a decision.
“We all took what we could find to the meetings and then they laid them out on the table to decide what we would use on the sign,” she added.
She noted the decision process was quite simple once the information was in front of them.
The second historical feature detailed the Club 23 dance hall, which was a barn-like structure built in 1938.
“[In] 1949 a group of Palmerston men purchased the hall; however, gang like intruders affected the attendance and the hall was closed,” the sign read. In its day the Teviotdale dance hall was very popular in the north Wellington area, stated members.
The Town of Minto helped fund a portion of the sign through the Minto Mayor’s Charity Golf Tournament, donating $3,250 to the committee.
Seven other sponsors supported the Teviotdale history project and the sign was built by Raynbow Signs in Palmerston.
“This is a great day for Teviotdale,” Mayor Dave Turton said during the sign presentation. “It’s one thing to come up with an idea, it’s another thing to raise the money and execute it.”
Turton mentioned passing by the sign “numerous” times and stopping to watch the public admiring the historical sign.
“This is just another opportunity that volunteers came together and did something wonderful,” he added.
The third image on the sign speaks about the Teviotdale Truck Stop, built in 1948 as a Shell service centre.
Following the truck stop is the SS No. 13 Minto School, built in 1865. The building was a log cabin school and Mr. James Smith was the first teacher with a salary of $350.
The small school had many closures – one in 1885 due to scarlet fever, another in 1918 due to Spanish influenza and lastly in 1925 due to smallpox.
The Teviotdale Post Office is also included on the sign with the last feature being historical information about Teviotdale sports, noting the first softball team and championship wins.
“People today have no idea about what was going on here, it was a very busy little hub Teviotdale years ago,” Turton told the Advertiser.
“There is a lot of history here and it’s wonderful to savour it,” he said.
