Indiana, Ontario

Indiana is an old village site -- a ghost town -- now within the precincts of the Ruthven Park National Historic Site, 1 km north of Cayuga, in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada. The site was also referred to as "Deans" as late as 1940-1951, when it was marked on a map published by C. Tarling & Co Harv|Archives of Ontario|2006. The Indiana site lies on the north-east bank of the Grand River, south of Regional Road 54.

ettlement history

Harvcoltxt |Nelles|1905|p=98 noted that Thomas Lester "settled there in 1837" and that "he carried on an extensive and successful lumbering business." However, the website of the Harvcoltxt |Ruthven Park National Historic Site|2006 attributes the development of Indiana to the builder of Ruthven Park, David I. Thompson (and his descendants, including the politician David Thompson), who "obtained land along the Grand River where he built a dam and lock, grist mill and saw mill around which the village of Indiana grew. By 1870, Indiana was humming with several industries and approximately 300 residents." Both sources associate the development of Indiana with the Grand River Navigation Company, which "was forced out of the trade by railway competition" Harv|Nelles|1905|p=98. Nelles noted in 1905: "Only the site of Indiana or Dean's now remains. ... Only the older residents of Haldimand remember anything about Indiana."

External links

* [http://www.ruthvenpark.ca/ Ruthven Park National Historic Site web site]

References