History
Maguire was named for local resident William Maguire, a shoemaker, who had originally immigrated to Canada from Enniskillen Ireland in order to escape the economic conditions brought on by the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-49. Maguire obtained several pieces of property in the vicinity, including one immediately south of the current intersection. A post office was opened in 1882, with Alexander Todd being named as the Postmaster. In 1884, Todd opened a general store on the south-east corner, also during this period, John Ryan operated a blacksmith business nearby. There is evidence to indicate that a log dwelling, or inn, once existed at the northeast corner of the intersection.
Todd operated the store until 1912, when the business was sold to John Strange, father of Cy Strange, who in addition to running the general store, established a sawmill on the property. John Strange also ran the post office until it was closed on December 1, 1913. The general store itself ceased operation in 1920, when the building was converted into a mill and the structure was finally demolished in 1944. During the 1940s, John Hotson built and operated a machine repair shop on the west side of Maguire Road, south of the intersection, opposite the former site of the general store. The remaining structure currently on that location, is not the original Hotson's machine shop, but rather a former church out building relocated from Crediton, Ontario which is now used as a barn. Farther to the south at Ebenezer Cemetery, William and Elizabeth Maguire and Alexander Todd are at rest.
A small memorial plaque commemorating the former existence of the community is located on the east side of Maguire Road, marking the former location of the front steps of the original general store and post office.
Read more about this topic: Maguire, Ontario
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The greatest honor history can bestow is that of peacemaker.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)
“Modern Western thought will pass into history and be incorporated in it, will have its influence and its place, just as our body will pass into the composition of grass, of sheep, of cutlets, and of men. We do not like that kind of immortality, but what is to be done about it?”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
“Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.”
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809)