West Montrose, Ontario
| West Montrose | |
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| Unincorporated rural community | |
West Montrose Covered Bridge (2014)
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 West Montrose
West Montrose
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| Coordinates: 43°35′18″N 80°28′55″W / 43.58833°N 80.48194°WCoordinates: 43°35′18″N 80°28′55″W / 43.58833°N 80.48194°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Region | Waterloo |
| Township | Woolwich |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Forward sortation area | N0B 2V0 |
| Area code(s) | 519 and 226 |
| NTS Map | 040P09 |
| GNBC Code | FDCNQ |
West Montrose is an unincorporated rural community in Woolwich Township in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. As of the 2016 census, the community population was 267.
The settlement of West Montrose is designated as a Cultural Heritage Landscape by the Township of Woolwich because of its history of pioneer settlement, its traditional bridges and the Old Order Mennonite culture.
Located in West Montrose are single family homes, a church, a small store, a bed-and-breakfast and the West Montrose Covered Bridge, a local tourist attraction.
West Montrose was made up of Lots Seventy, Seventy-one, and Seventy-four of the Germany Company survey in Woolwich Township. Land was purchased from the German Company sometime after 1807 by Daniel Erb, David Eby and Christian Stauffer in 1807. However it was not settled until about 1850. A few Scots arrived at that time, including Andrew L. Anderson from Montrose, Scotland; presumably he named the village Montrose after his home town. The word West was added in about 1865 to differentiate the community from Montrose near Niagara Falls.
By the early 1850s, other Mennonites from Pennsylvania began arriving to this part of Waterloo County, settling in nearby St. Jacobs and also on farms surrounding West Montrose. They were the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch. The word "Dutch" does not refer to the Netherlands but is a misnomer for Deitsch or Deutsch (German). Isaac Swope settled here in 1858 and built a log cabin. Many others owned land here but did not actually settle; they sold it later to other settlers. Jacob Benner, opened a woolen mill in 1858 and a sawmill in 1861.
The first church was built in 1862 by the United Brethren congregation which included Methodists, Baptists, and Mennonites. The first school was built in 1865. By 1869, West Montrose had a post office, a population of about 100, a lumber yard, a gunsmith, a carpenter, a hotel and keeper, a stock dealer, a post office, a general merchant, several coopers, and a minister, according to historical records. There was no railway connection until 1907. By then, the population had dropped from a peak of 200 in 1890 to a mere 50.
The horse and buggy was the primary transportation among the Mennonites for decades. Today, Old Order Mennonites still use this mode of transportation.
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Wikipedia