Figure 1 Looking southeast from the corner of Arkona Road and Townsend Line (formerly North Street and King Street) in October 1954. Courtesy of the Lambton County Archives, Sarnia Observer Photograph 05513-01 A Historical Walking Tour of Arkona, Ontario Greg Stott Prepared in Conjunction with Arkona 150 June 2026
© Gregory K.R. Stott, 2026. Introduction This is a short guide for understanding Arkona’s complex and dynamic past for those longstanding and more recent residents as well as curious visitors. While it is intended to be comprehensive, it is by no means exhaustive and therefore anyone interested in Arkona’s past should also consult other published works. I would like to thank the Arkona and Area Historical Society, the Arkona 150 Committee, the Lambton County Archives, the Township of Warwick Historical Committee, and my parents Glenn and Lynne (Dunham) Stott. Greg Stott May 7, 2026
Figure 2. One of the oldest extant photographs of Arkona shows the businesses along the western side of Arkona Road north of Townsend Line prior to the 1876 fire which destroyed most of the structures north of the structure on the extreme left which still stands. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. A Very Brief Historical Sketch Approximately 10,000 years ago the first people known to have lived in the Arkona-area camped just southwest of the main village leaving behind stone spear points to attest to their presence. Since that time thousands of people of have migrated into the region. In 1821 Asa Townsend (ca.1775alive 1854) and his family set out to exploit a salt spring on the Ausable River just upriver from Rock Glen. In the 1830s the area was surveyed and divided between Warwick and Bosanquet Townships and in 1832 or 1833 settlers of European origin made the area home and a crossroads settlement known alternatively as Broadway, Bosanquet Village, Eastman’s Corners, Smithfield and finally Arkona (1857) came into being. Arkona was incorporated as a village in 1876 and remained so until the creation of Lambton Shores in 2001. The village’s population peaked at about 750 in the late 1870s and thereafter settled around 500 as the failure to attract a railway and two destructive fires in 1876 and 1884 respectively were major setbacks. However, the village continued as an important service centre for the surrounding farming families. Local soil and climate made the area ideal for orchards and small berries which remain an important economic mainstay into the 21st century. Just north of the village the thwarted community of ‘Rockville’ – known mostly as Rock Glen – remained an important centre for milling and in the early 20th century became the site of a dam for the production of hydroelectricity. Arkona’s Main Intersection The main focal point of Arkona’s business interests grew up at the junction of what is now known as Arkona Road and Townsend Line, the latter which separated Warwick and Bosanquet Townships, and the former which was a major thoroughfare connecting the more southerly farms with communities to the north such as Pinehill (Widder) and its successor community of Thedford. This intersection has seen continual change including adaptations forced by two disastrous fires in 1876 and 1884 respectively. The oldest known structure to have survived both calamities stands on the northwest corner of Townsend Line and Arkona Road. Although it was built in about 1851 as a Page 1 of 17
Figure 3 James Donley’s “Arkona Hotel” (pictured prior to 1884) was actually the amalgam of two establishments. Donley built the structure on the left in about 1858. The attached structure on the right was originally constructed across the Townsend Line to the north as a temperance hotel but was acquired by Donley and moved south. Both were destroyed in the 1884 fire. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Figure 4 Brown Brothers Store ca. 1940. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. temperance hotel, it has mostly served as a general store under the the ownership of Alexander Duncan and Sarah Catherine (Schooley) McDonald from the late 1860s until 1896 at which point the business was sold to John George and Eliza (Shillington) Brown. Their family would continue their business until the business was sold in 1951 to Bert and Minnie (Rosser) Field. The Fields would operate the business until 1989, when it was sold to Susan Jefferson. Figure 5 Arkona’s main intersection looking east ca. 1904. These structures were either built after the 1884 fire or moved to the location following it. Arkona’s two hotels the balconied buildings in the centre of the image faced each other across Townsend Line with Cliff’s Queen’s Hotel on the left and the Royal Hotel on the right. The building on the extreme right began its existence as Arkona’s Episcopal Methodist Church. It served in various capacities following its move to Arkona’s southwestern corner until destroyed by fire in 1913. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Page 2 of 17
Figure 7. This photograph was taken ca. 1900 and looks along the north side of Townsend Line just west of Arkona Road and shows Jack McKay’s Livery Stable. The McKay house stands in the centre of the image and the home Arkona’s druggist George Everest stands on the far left. The Everest house stood until the late 1970s and is now the site of Teeple Optometry. Courtesy of Arkona and Area Historical Society. Figure 9 Townsend Line looking west toward the main intersection prior to 1924. The Ready Block appears on the left, the Queen’s Hotel on the right, and the south end of Brown Brothers’ is visible centre right and Fuller Brothers’ is across the street. Courtesy of the Lambton Room. BB 005 003. Page 3 of 17
Further East Along Townsend Line (formerly King Street). Jaynes Memorial Hall was built by public prescription and the sponsorship of the Women’s Institute on the south side of Townsend Line two lots west of Richmond Street in memory of the late Joseph and Margaret (Eastman) Jaynes who had operated a carpentry shop on the location. The new building served as both a community hall, meeting space, and the home of the public library starting in 1933. The structure was torn down in 2003. Figure 10 Jaynes’ Memorial Hall. Courtesy of the Warwick Township History Committee. Figure 11 A view of the southeastern corner of Townsend Line and Richmond Streets in Arkona, ca. 1924. Courtesy of Tom Whibbs. Page 4 of 17
Figure 12 A photograph looking south from Townsend Line down Richmond Street. The Presbyterian Church is located at the end of the street just right of centre. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Figure 13 Arkona Woolen Mills, ca 1915.Established before 1867 Arkona Woolen Mill operated until it was destroyed by fire in March 1939. It was located on the northeast corner of Townsend Line and Smith Street. Pictured left to right, Frank Kime, Thomasina (Dickison) Utter, and Charlie Dickison. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Page 5 of 17
Figure 15 A view looking west along Church Street toward the old Baptist Church (built in 1858) on the northeast corner of Church and Smith Street. The existing Baptist Church was built in 1912.G. Stott’s collecdtion. Walking Up Smith Street Figure 14 Smith Street looking north from Townsend Line. To the left is the home of Dickison family which was later owned by Ellwood and Clarice (Sadler) Johnson. The house slightly right of centre was the Baptist Manse which was built as the Episcopal Methodist Parsonage. The second Baptist Church is situated at the centre of the photograph. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Page 6 of 17
Figure 16 Arkona’s Public School was located west of its successor structure essentially in what is now the paved parking lot. The original two-storey section was built in 1871 with the one-storey annex being added in 1876. The building replaced the old “Red School” and it would serve the community until it was replaced by the “new” school in 1962 at which point the 1870s structure was torn down. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Figure 17 Smith Street in Arkona ca. 1924 looking northeast from between Church and Union Streets. Courtesy of Tom Whibbs. Page 7 of 17
A Stroll South Along Centre Street In about 1874 a group of citizens headed by carpenter Joseph Jaynes raised money by public subscription for the purchase of a bell from Detroit. Upon its delivery, the bell was installed atop a waggon shop at the corner of King and John Streets. At some point before 1892 a group of Hallowe’en pranksters absconded with the bell, although it was subsequently recovered. At that point the bell was reinstalled on the northeastern corner of Church and Centre Streets where it remained – with a brief interruption when it was temporarily located at the school– until about 1912 when it was finally installed in a tall wooden bell tower located at the southern end of Centre Street. The belfry burned in 1939 and was replaced by a metal tower. The bell was later installed above the Ontario Historical Plaque in front of the Arkona Seniors’ Hall and Fire Hall. Figure 18 Arkona Methodist Church and Parsonage before 1913. Arkona’s Wesleyan Methodists organized themselves in the 1850s and built their sanctuary at the southeastern corner of Centre and Union Streets in 1861/2. It served the amalgamated Wesleyan and Episcopal Methodist Churches after 1884. The building was raised and a basement was constructed in 1913 and brick from the old Keyser Methodist Church was recycled to cover the frame exterior. In 1925 it became Arkona United Church and would remain so until it closed in 2008. The manse on the right was built in 1896 to replace an earlier parsonage located on the southwestern corner of Union and Smith Streets. Courtesy of Wib Dunlop. Figure 19 Arkona’s Belfry at its final location at the junction of Ward, Church, and Centre Streets. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Page 8 of 17
Figure 20 Arkona’s Basket Factory was located on the west side of the Arkona Road south of Ward Street across the creek that flowed underneath. Established and built by G.M. Everest in the 1890s it manufactured berry baskets for the burgeoning berry farms. It continued despite a serious fire in 1897, but was replaced in 1902 and would remain in business until after the First World War. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Figure 21 The Dunlop steam mill was located on the east side of Arkona Road adjacent to the Hobbs-Mackenzie Drain that flows toward Rock Glen. It was bought out by T.W. Mitchell in 1902. Mitchell left in 1909 and it was sold to the Wilson family. It stopped as a mill and briefly operated as a paint factory. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Arkona Road Industries (North) Page 9 of 17
Figure 22 This photograph was snapped from the western side of Arkona Road looking northeast toward the Arkona Cheese Factory which was located south of Frank Street. Organized between 1908 and 1909 by Levi G. Tinkelpaugh, it operated under the auspices of the Arkona Dairy Company Ltd. It closed in 1930 but reopened in 1938 and remained open until the end of the Second World War. It was used for various purposes until it was struck by lightning in September 1958, and burned toe the ground. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Arkona Road Industries (South) Figure 22 Marjorie Herrington posing for a photograph in front of Jack Herrington’s garage and gas station (ca. 1943) located immediately south of the former Royal Hotel on Arkona’s southeastern corner.It was subsequently owned by various operators until being purchased by the current owners Sushil and Anjna Nakhwal. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Page 10 of 17
Figure 24 Arkona’s Second Apple Evaporator on the old Fairgrounds (now Utter Park). The photograph was reputedly taken on November 11, 1918 the day the Armistice was signed. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Figure 23 Arkona’s First Evaporator was built at the Fair Grounds in 1899.Although located south of Arkona’s 1876 municipal boundaries, the Fair Grounds were established in the 1860s. The last fair was held in 1891 and the exhibition buildings were torn down in 1897. The Evaporator (known locally as “The Vap”) operated in the 1920s when the market for dried apples declined. They reverted to being called “Victoria Park” and then “Recreation Park” and were upgraded in the 1930s. They were rebranded Utter Park in 1976. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Page 11 of 17
Other Village Locations Figure 25 The old Arkona Village Municipal Building which was located on the north side of Victoria Street between John Street and Arkona Road, where Arkona’s Fire Hall now stands. It served as a meeting space for village council, a fire hall, and a lockup. This image was taken in 1974 before it was torn down to make way for the combined fire hall and Seniors Hall.. Courtesy of Glenn Stott. Figure 26 Located east of the village, the cemetery dates to the 1840s. Photograph of the Arkona Cemetery taken prior to 1923. Russell Dunham Collection. Page 12 of 17
Rock Glen This ancient gorge full of Devonian fossils, was known to local First Nations and became a milling site in the late 1830s. While set up as a potential rival to Arkona in the early 1850s, “Rockville” settled down to be a milling site and then starting in 1907 a site for the generation of hydro through the Rock Glen Power Company. Despite the failure of the original dam, it was quickly rebuilt and Arkona had locally produced hydro until it joined the Ontario Hydro system in 1926. The lake created by the dam was a popular site of recreational boating and picnicking until the dam was destroyed in 1933. The site was revitalized by the Arkona Lions Club and then came under the jurisdiction of the AusableBayfield Conservation Authority in 1954. Figure 27 Arkona’s “Red School” was built in 1855 at the western stretches of Victoria Street. The school served not only the local children but also was used to train teachers from across the region in the later 1850s. It was also the site of many political meetings and the Arkona Debating and Literary Society in the late 1850s. The photograph was taken prior to 1872. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Figure 28. The “new” grist mill at Rock Glen which was built in the early 1870s. Courtesy of Frank and Jan Lucas. Page 13 of 17
Figure 29 Rock Glen Dam and Power House. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Figure 30 Upriver from the dam with the power house and engineer’s residence on the left. Courtesy of the Arkona and Area Historical Society. Page 14 of 17
Figure 31 Arkona Insurance Map, 1896. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada. Page 15 of 17
Figure 32 Aerial view of Arkona’s main southeastern corner in 2014. Courtesy of Sushil Nakhwal Page 16 of 17
Figure 33 Courtesy of the Township of Warwick History Committee
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDI0Mzg=