Midhurst Ont. celebrates 200 years of permanent settlement

A photo of Willow Creek dammed into a mill pond circa in the late 1800s, where the original mills would have sat - not visible in this photo. (Courtesy of the Simcoe County Archives)

Midhurst, a charming rural community in Springwater Township, is celebrating 200 years of permanent settlement.

This milestone dates back to 1825, when the government of Upper Canada issued a location ticket for Lot 12, Concession 4 in Vespra Township to one lucky trio - George Oliver, Thomas Mair and John Mair.

Today, Lot 12, embodies the older part of Midhurst.

The association says the location ticket allowed the group to settle on Lot 12 and receive title to the property. In return, the three men were required to build and operate a grist mill which grinded grain into flour.

The association also says the trio built a sawmill on Willow Creek in 1825, which produced lumber for building the grist mill and other structures like dwellings and sheds. The grist mill reportedly began operation two years after the sawmill.

“These first mills were to have attracted other enterprises. Over the ensuing months, years, and decades, this bustling mill centre, originally known as Oliver’s Mills, grew to include additional mills, a distillery, a soap factory, a blacksmith, a wheelwright, a store, churches, a school, the township hall, and a post office,” shares an official from the Midhurst Community Recreation Association

In 1888, it even became the site for the first electricity-generating plant in the region, powered by Willow Creek. This plant lit Barrie’s first electric set of streetlights.

In 2025, Midhurst continues to grow and evolve with two centuries worth of history behind it.