Lefroy's history includes sawmills and the railway
By Art Jack Innisfil Historical Society

Last week, Art Jack discussed the history of Lefroy during an Innisfil Historical Society meeting. Here's what he shared.

The village of Lefroy did not exist when the area was surveyed by the Lout brothers in 1820. The population of the entire township was only 20 people. The population 20 years later was 700. One of the first residents of the future village was Henry Grose, who owned a portion of the northeast section of Lefroy in 1832. On the south side of the 4th Line, William Goodfellow and family from East and West Gwillimbury purchased this property in 1843. The land was entirely forested with hard and soft wood trees. The north end of Church Street was called 'The Pines' because of the huge trees dominating this area.

A creek running through the Grose property powered a saw mill and this became the basis of Lefroy's future industry. The Northern Railway, with the full name of The Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railroad Union Company came through in 1853 after a right of way was purchased from the Goodfellow and Grose's property. Aman named Orpen was the first station master of Lefroy. Innisfil was actually the first name of the village and a debate arose as to whether it should be located on the 3rd or 4th Line and, of course, the 4th won out.

The village finally got its name in 1854 after John Henry Lefroy, who was then in charge of the Magnetic Observatory in Toronto. Lefroy also had a mountain named after him in Lake Louise, Banff National Park at the British Columbia and Alberta border, Mount Lefroy. Originally there was a school, a general store, a church and a mill. A stage coach connected Lefroy to Churchill. The Royal Mail came up from Toronto to Holland Landing up Yonge Street on horseback and on foot to Churchill. The first post office was situated at the corner of Church Street and the Fourth Line. It was originally owned by McKay and Company and later sold to the Edgar brothers who in turn sold it to J.G. Grose in 1891. The post office stayed in the Grose family for 70 years with Byron Grose taking over. The rural mail was delivered by Chris Grose, who was Byron's father.

The telephone came to Lefroy around the turn of the century thanks to G.C. Allen and J.F. Ardill, who brought the line from Cookstown and installed the first telephone. Stella Ardill was the first operator.

The first church to open was the Presbyterian in 1865, and that little white building served until 1925, when the church union brought in the Methodists. The congregation then moved across the street to a brick building which had been moved up from Belle Ewart. This church is now the Lefroy United Church. The little church was sold and became part of the Continuation High School. Minutes of a meeting in 1860 record that parents of the public school children had to supply a half a cord of wood for each child, or the equivalent cash value. Teachers were paid the sum of $230 to $380 annually. They also acted as caretakers, sweeping the floor and starting the wood stove.

In this era, the village had three hotels and the first bank was the Sterling Bank. Also, it is noted that the bank was open every week day with long hours.

The Lloyd George Park was donated to the village by Albert Kirkpatrick as a memorial after the Great War of 1914-1918. The cobblestone gate posts were constructed by Joe Gregg. This is the site of the South Innisfil Community Centre.

The names of some of the earliest settlers were- Cannings, Ardill, Whan, Barry, Bell, Adams, Reid, Bateman, Wilson, Jack, Corner, Sheldon, Blackmore, Nesbitt and Allan.