The Big Picture
The most important reality to keep in mind when researching properties on Prince Edward Street in Brighton is the original arrangement of townships. Prince Edward Street was part of the border between Cramahe Township to the west and Murray Township to the east. The part of that border we are dealing with is from the Main Street intersection to Cedar Street, although the full border is represented today by Cedar Street from Presqu’ile Bay, Prince Edward Street and then Young Street to the north.
While most folks these days have little interest in the old land administration system, in order to document the history of properties, we must not only understand the idiosyncrasies of the documents but become handy with using them in a detailed way. It is particularly important to remember that properties on the west of Prince Edward Street were in Concession 1, Lot 1 of the old Cramahe Township and that properties on the east side were in Concession B, Lot 35 of the old Murray Township. These designations determine which group of documents in the OnLand.ca system contains specific records about the village lots in this area.
Initially, Around Town will address the properties between Park Street and the railway tracks, with opportunities later to do the section of Prince Edward Street south of the railway as well as its further extension to the east to meet Harbour Street. Right now, we will look at the immediate Brighton town area.
Having said that, one might notice the Park Street name. As I did with Main Street, the downtown will be addressed later as a whole project, including the part of Prince Edward Street around the Young/Main/Prince Edward intersection. In order to provide some structure and defined borders to this first Prince Edward Street project, it was necessary to confine the work to the addresses from Park Street south to the tracks on the west side and from Elizabeth Street south to the tracks on the east side.
The most important reality to keep in mind when researching properties on Prince Edward Street in Brighton is the original arrangement of townships. Prince Edward Street was part of the border between Cramahe Township to the west and Murray Township to the east. The part of that border we are dealing with is from the Main Street intersection to Cedar Street, although the full border is represented today by Cedar Street from Presqu’ile Bay, Prince Edward Street and then Young Street to the north.
While most folks these days have little interest in the old land administration system, in order to document the history of properties, we must not only understand the idiosyncrasies of the documents but become handy with using them in a detailed way. It is particularly important to remember that properties on the west of Prince Edward Street were in Concession 1, Lot 1 of the old Cramahe Township and that properties on the east side were in Concession B, Lot 35 of the old Murray Township. These designations determine which group of documents in the OnLand.ca system contains specific records about the village lots in this area.
Initially, Around Town will address the properties between Park Street and the railway tracks, with opportunities later to do the section of Prince Edward Street south of the railway as well as its further extension to the east to meet Harbour Street. Right now, we will look at the immediate Brighton town area.
Having said that, one might notice the Park Street name. As I did with Main Street, the downtown will be addressed later as a whole project, including the part of Prince Edward Street around the Young/Main/Prince Edward intersection. In order to provide some structure and defined borders to this first Prince Edward Street project, it was necessary to confine the work to the addresses from Park Street south to the tracks on the west side and from Elizabeth Street south to the tracks on the east side.
Prince Edward Street and Park Street
The process of learning how to deal with land records for the area around Park Street on the west side of Prince Edward Street was challenging, to say the least. The two map segments below help demonstrate the problem.
The first one, on the left, is from the Brighton Plan of 1866. It shows Chapel Street on the left, or south, and Prince Edward Street along the bottom. Main Street is on the right. You may notice that there is no Park Street at all.
Village Lot 42, at the corner of Prince Edward and Main Streets, extends well down to the south west. Also, the smaller Village Lot 35 is shown on Prince Edward Street, taking up the south-east corner of lot 42.
While this does not look familiar to us today, we must remember that our street system and associated buildings evolved over time. This is a tangible way to see how things changed in this particular area.
The process of learning how to deal with land records for the area around Park Street on the west side of Prince Edward Street was challenging, to say the least. The two map segments below help demonstrate the problem.
The first one, on the left, is from the Brighton Plan of 1866. It shows Chapel Street on the left, or south, and Prince Edward Street along the bottom. Main Street is on the right. You may notice that there is no Park Street at all.
Village Lot 42, at the corner of Prince Edward and Main Streets, extends well down to the south west. Also, the smaller Village Lot 35 is shown on Prince Edward Street, taking up the south-east corner of lot 42.
While this does not look familiar to us today, we must remember that our street system and associated buildings evolved over time. This is a tangible way to see how things changed in this particular area.
|
|
Now look at the second map segment, on the right. This one is from the Belden County Atlas of 1878, where a very detailed map of Brighton Village was provided, showing all the village lots at that time. Notice that the area labelled “Ketchum Plan” now replaces village lot 42 with a lot of smaller lots, representing the intense demand for small commercial properties at this critical intersection on the main highway through Brighton.
In particular, we can see that Park Street exists in the 1878 map, although it only goes half way from Prince Edward Street to Division Street. It provided a necessary rear laneway for businesses on Main Street as well as direct access for the new businesses established south of Main and west of Prince Edward Streets. It made perfect sense, later on, to push Park Street all the way west to Divisions Street, but that was not the case for some time.
The result of these changes over time, and in particular between 1866 and 1878, left a complex organization of land records. Today, the OnLand.ca system provides all of the pages of the land records for this area, but we have to search hard to find which Book contains which specific records. In general, we can say that village lots 42 and 35 are not represented with separate books, but are bundled in with records for the west side of Prince Edward and the south side of Main Street. I have yet to see a section of pages for Park Street, but there may be one, somewhere.
As to our present project, from Park Street south, we need to find records for village lot 36, village lot 35 and then the smaller, long, narrow lots, 1, 2 and 3, going south on Prince Edward Street. A keen eye is required to pick out records that might mention these lots in the description, but we often have to do some educated guessing by following streams of records for certain people or descriptions, to develop the sequential history of a particular property.
It is not for the faint of heart – or anyone who does not have lots of time and patience. Cue the History Guy.
In particular, we can see that Park Street exists in the 1878 map, although it only goes half way from Prince Edward Street to Division Street. It provided a necessary rear laneway for businesses on Main Street as well as direct access for the new businesses established south of Main and west of Prince Edward Streets. It made perfect sense, later on, to push Park Street all the way west to Divisions Street, but that was not the case for some time.
The result of these changes over time, and in particular between 1866 and 1878, left a complex organization of land records. Today, the OnLand.ca system provides all of the pages of the land records for this area, but we have to search hard to find which Book contains which specific records. In general, we can say that village lots 42 and 35 are not represented with separate books, but are bundled in with records for the west side of Prince Edward and the south side of Main Street. I have yet to see a section of pages for Park Street, but there may be one, somewhere.
As to our present project, from Park Street south, we need to find records for village lot 36, village lot 35 and then the smaller, long, narrow lots, 1, 2 and 3, going south on Prince Edward Street. A keen eye is required to pick out records that might mention these lots in the description, but we often have to do some educated guessing by following streams of records for certain people or descriptions, to develop the sequential history of a particular property.
It is not for the faint of heart – or anyone who does not have lots of time and patience. Cue the History Guy.