This Is My Town: South Mountain

South Mountain, Ontario.

May be the only town for you.

Population? A little bit hard to find as South Mountain is part of the Mountain township, which is part of the Township of North Dundas. North Dundas is part of the SDG counties (Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry), where Ontario began. We do know that in 1905 the population was 400 people, in 1953, 500 people, and its a rural area that–like many towns in SDG–agriculture is part of it’s history. From an old 1953 Ottawa Citizen article, “Don’t believe them when they tell you that South Mountain is ‘just a small place–there’s nothing very much there.’ Anyone who says that doesn’t really know the place….South Mountain is an important and surprisingly busy village in the centre of one of the best dairying districts in Dundas County.”

What we can tell you though how South Mountain got it’s name, and it’s not because of a mountain south of the town.

via GIPHY

It received its name for being a part of the Mountain Township named after the Right Reverend Jacob Mountain, the first Protestant Bishop of Quebec. Why is his name part of this town? Because of his good, personal friend Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe in 1798 had the land and decided to name it after him in 1815. Anyone want to be our good, personal friend who could own a new town and name it after us?

via GIPHY

Joking aside, he actually fought long and hard for more churches, money and privileges, free schools, grammar schools and even McGill University.

The village of South Mountain was established in 1835 when Samuel Guernsey came from the Channel Islands and built a combination grist and sawmill.

Population increased through the arrival of migrants, and of course the completion of the Rideau Canal and the St. Lawrence River saw an influx of Irish labourers adding to the diversity of the population. South Mountain soon became larger and grew with wool carding, weaving mills, oatmeal chopping mills, shingle mills, commerce and manufacturing associated with farming.

Fast forward to the American Civil War (1861-65), there was another economic boom for agricultural producers as they needed massive amounts of food and drink, that for a while it was Mountain farmers that grew hops for the American brewing industries. Nothing like beer for our neighbours, eh? For a little town, they did and are doing just fine. In the 1950s, South Mountain was considered a fairly self-supporting town with general stores, feed store, garages, plumbers, bake shop, furniture store, ambulance service, two meat shops and more. They even had a cheese factory there until it burnt down in the late 1940s

The village still has most of its 20th century architecture and feel, with modern amenities like a school, church, and even a golf club!

Quick Facts About South Mountain

• Had a town newspaper called The Mountain Herald which ran from 1890-1930.
• At one time, in 1885, the Western Union Telegraph Company operated out of South Mountain.
• They sold some of the best date-filled oatmeal cookies out of the South Mountain Bakery thanks to a T.W. Bill Robinson, which reached 300 Ontario stores, 65 of them in Ottawa back in the 1950s.

The main attraction for South Mountain and most notable, is the South Mountain Fair. This fair is 127-years-old! Check out this photo from 1905:

Fun fact: at the 61st annual Mountain Fair, there was fast classes of harness racing for horses… Locals in 1953 had commented that South Mountain had a great horse racing centre with the big racing days being on July 1st, Fair Day and Thanksgiving day.

The South Mountain Fair has something for everyone with a children’s tent, a midway, livestock competitions, and big-name entertainment today. You can expect the South Mountain Fair to be back in August 2021! For more on the fair visit southmountainfair.ca