We’re highlighting a prominent woman from Milton’s history books and a street connected to one of the community’s most-recognizable names.
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 Kean Hill Drive and Knight Trail. This week, we’re focusing on Kelly Gate and Laidlaw Drive.
Starting alphabetically with Kelly, Challinor says it’s named after a nineteenth century female business owner-turned-teacher.
He adds that the Harrison family that she married into had been in Milton since it was first settled back in the early-1800s. They operated one of the first farms in the community’s history, and then also had several educators in the family. While kept records don’t have details like ‘how this local couple from the 1800s met‘, it’s easy to assume with her position as a local teacher, and his family history, that they likely met thanks to the town’s education system.
Moving on to Laidlaw Drive, there’s a good chance you’ve met a Laidlaw in your time living in the area. It’s a very common surname around these parts. Challinor says this particular street is named after a member of what has become a very large local family with deep roots in the community.
Diving into the history of a lot of street names, you often hear how local families have moved away over the years. Not every kid wants to take over the family business, and when it comes to farming, land goes for a pretty penny these days. Challinor says the Laidlaws have stuck around due to their success in agriculture.
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.
