Serving Lake Erie’s North Shore Friday June 26, 2015
INSIDE Online Citizen Self Reporting
The Wheelhouse Arrives In Port Burwell
This system allows you to submit a report to the O.P.P. from your computer or mobile device. STORY PAGE 2
The Elgin County 1812 Plaque Trail The plaque program was co-ordinated by the Elgin County Museum. STORY PAGE 2
Sparta Church Museum Show of Historic Fashions The Sparta Church Museum opened their newest display of historical fashions on June 3rd. STORY PAGE 3
Above: Photo The Wheelhouse from the lake freighter Fernglen arrived by truck from Port Maitland on Wednesday June 17th.
Susan Start Get Behind the Wheelhouse
Port Stanley Report Construction is completed on the public boat launch in Port Stanley, and a ceremony was held on Tuesday June 15, to mark the official opening. STORY PAGE 4
Port Burwell’s Lighthouse Anniversary Bayham will celebrate the 175th anniversary with a four-plane formation flypast on July 1st. STORY PAGE 5
LOOK AHEAD Community Events
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Classifieds & Service Directory Page 7 Business Roladex
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Your ad in the Lake Erie Beacon will reach 7000 Homes, Apartments, Farms & Businesses From Port Burwell to Port Stanley and Port Glasgow. We also Email over 700 PDF’s of the Beacon & are on Facebook & issuu.com Call Linda at 519.782.4563
Get Behind the Wheelhouse is a project of the Wheelhouse Committee of the Port Burwell Historical Society. The historical Fernglen Lakefreighter wheelhouse, arrived by truck from Port Maitland – in one gigantic piece – in Port Burwell on Wednesday, June 17th. The project is to Honour the 175th Anniversary of Port Burwell’s Lighthouse, 1840 – 2015. The wheelhouse entered town from the north on Plank Road, turning left onto Robinson. At the corner of Erieus and Robinson (by the former United Church) it turned right onto Submariners' Way and continued down, under the bridge, around the Ojibwa, to its restoration site below the Lighthouse, where it was unloaded. The wheelhouse will be restored
Left: The Ojibwa welcomes the Wheelhouse. project of donations and volunteer hours – and we are so proud of the excitement that is building in the village around this project.
What’s the Wheelhouse?
over the next several months, and when it is in pristine condition again, it will be moved up the hill to its permanent site on Robinson Street on the grounds of Port Burwell's Marine Museum. This is completely a community
The George Barnes Memorial Wheelhouse was the navigational control room on the laker ‘Fernglen’. Constructed in 1917, the ship changed hands seven times in its seven decades on the lakes. Its two-storey steel exterior is 27’ x 24’ and its interior is tongue-and-groove fir, with a built-in chart cabinet and gyrocompass. It will be an unparalleled addition to the firstrate collection of Great Lakes shipping Continued On Page 7
The Dexter Church Closing June 28th Marg Haskins
The Free Will Baptist Church in 1865.
About 1865 it was decided that a church should be built in the thriving Community of Dexter. Dexter, a population of 75 residences boasted a post office, a broom manufacturer, two blacksmith shops, a cooperage, and hotel.
Port Stanley circuit. In 1892, the Presbyterians of the Dexter Church requested joint minister for the Dexter Church from the Providence Church, for the Dexter Church. Eventually, the Providence church secured the deed of the Dexter Church, and the Providence Church was sold and the land reverted back to the Armstrong farm.
The Free Will Baptist Church (a sect at that time prosperous in Ontario) was formed. Land was donated Lot 14, Concession 1 Yarmouth and a church was built. The framework of this early church has merely been improved into the present day church in the same location. The Baptist held services for about 25 years, before the congregation dwindled. An unorganized congregation consisting of Presbyterians and Anglicans held services in the church until 1892.
About 1875, The Methodists built a church on Lot 11 Concession 1 Yarmouth on land donated by Mr. William Armstrong. The Providence Church was formed and was part of the
The congregations (Presbyterians, Anglicans, Baptists of the Dexter Church and the Methodist from the Providence Church) all joined together as the Dexter Methodist Church, and was then a part of the Port Stanley Circuit (which had been formed in 1854) making it a four-point charge with Lake Road and Union. The Dexter people Continued On Page 5