We have the history of two more local streets: one named after a former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and another after an important local farming family.
Each week, we speak with Milton Historical Society President John Challinor II to gather information and details about the namesakes of our roads. If you weren’t aware, he and the late great historian, Jim Dills, wrote the book on Milton street names, writing Milton Streets back in 2007.
Recently, we covered Lamont Crescent and Laughren Crescent. This week, we’re focusing on Gibson Crescent and Willmott Crescent.
Starting alphabetically with Gibson, Challinor says the namesake was involved with the Ontario government more than 100 years ago.
He didn’t do much of significance. Challinor says he served six years in his role, and sometimes that’s all you need to be recognized.
Some online research has found that Gibson was a longtime Hamilton resident, who helped with changing the identity of the city, as it evolved from ‘Pittsburgh of Canada’ to ‘The Electric City’. Gibson died in 1929.
Our other street definitely has more connections to our town. Challinor says Willmott Crescent is named after a local farming family that arrived in this area more than 200 years ago.
Two members of the Willmott family have since been inducted in the Milton Walk of Fame. That’s due to their award winning sheep farming.
The Willmott received roughly 200 acres of land from The Crown when arriving to what is now the Milton area back in the early-1800’s. As Challinor noted, the land is located at the southwest corner of Derry Road and Regional Road 25. The original home (The Rosehill Cottage) is still located behind the Milton Sports Centre. It is expected to be moved and/or torn down in the near future as development in the area continues.
How much would 200 acres in Milton go for in 2023? Well, fairly recently, the 200 acres attached to the CN Intermodal Hub was sold for $165 million. Ignoring the CAD-US exchange rate, for $165 million, you can buy this W-shaped mansion with 123 rooms, including 14 bedrooms and 27 bathrooms.
If you’re looking to understand how Milton’s streets are named, you should check out the book written by Challinor and Dills. Published by the Milton Historical Society back in 2007, it sold out in about six weeks and has since been long out of print. That said, according to Challinor, you can still find a copy at the Milton Public Library. With nearly 15-years having passed since the initial publication, and the extensive town growth in that time, an updated book is likely to come.
You can also take a walk with the late Jim Dills down Milton’s Main Street in 2002.
If you have a suggestion on what you’d like to learn about next week, let us know! We’re currently working on names that we find interesting. You can message our Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram page, or even email us at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. Otherwise, we’ll just continue asking about local street names that we find interesting.
If you have a news tip or story idea, you can now send us a heads up via email at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. If you’d like to get ahold of me personally, shoot me a message at Cameron.Wilkinson@LocalRadio.ca. We’re in the business of content creation, so no idea is a bad idea.
