Photos by Barry Wallace
Pictured above is the northern outflow of Glenville Pond, beneath Hwy. 9, at Dufferin Street.
Elizabeth McClure Gillham, in her book Early Settlements of King Township describes the naming as Glenville as follows: "No doubt Glenville was so named on account of its location, for the hamlet was folded in by hills". While the earthly, physical surroundings of Glenville look much the same today as they did 200 years ago, the remains of a once bustling, little village seem to have disappeared. Other villages and hamlets in King have a number of old buildings that bespeak of yesteryear. Other than the ancient Glenville Methodist Church (pictured immediately below), which is now a private building, there is little else that readily speaks of the past. Glenville is one of those tiny places that has a 'Brigadoon' feel to it, as though one might be mystically transported back a hundred years to a bustling, special place, for a short time.
Glenville once was home to two sawmills, two grist/flour mills,a whiskey distillery, three blacksmiths, a blanket and carpet-making business, a hat store, two hotels, a general store, two hotels, a school, a church and a Temperance Society, among other enterprises. No evidence of these structures is apparent today to passers-by. The homes of modern-day Glenville are mostly large, attractive and complementary to the surrounding woodlands.
Above, a southerly view across a pond, a valley and surrounding hills is bisected by Highway 9, just west of Dufferin Street.
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Barry Wallace
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