The Lost Village of Kempenfelt

The Lost Village of Kempenfelt. . , Divided From the Beginning , Penetanguishene Road was the division line between the townships of Vespra and Oro, splitting the village into two jurisdictions. The map below shows how the streets named Front, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and Rear on the left side of the original survey were later changed in the 1830s to reflect area settlers. Steel and Puget Streets remain at the north and west boundary. Johnson Street and Penetanguishene Road ended at Kempenfelt Bay before there was a railroad. , Broken Promises, Broken Future , Kempenfelt settlers had been promised the village would become the County Town. When Barrie residents sent a petition to Toronto asking to become the administrative center for the new County in 1836, the Kempenfelt and Penetanguishene Road residents argued that no respectable person would ever choose to live in Barrie due to all the swampland with its noxious vapours. When Barrie was selected, Kempenfelt began its slow decline. High demand for building lots resulted in Kempenfelt being absorbed into Barrie's borders through the annexation of Vespra Township. A monument on the north side of the intersection of Penetanguishene and Shanty Bay Road now marks the demise of the Village of Kempenfelt. , Early Pioneers , Many of the earliest (pre-1837) settler names can be found marked on their lots, such as Ardagh, Atkinson, Ball, Bryant, John Fullerton, Mann and Summers. , The Johnson family arrived in 1822 and built a hotel. Adam Bryant was an English house carpenter by trade. James Summers and his wife Elizabeth Snow were natives of Somersetshire, England. John Fullerton purchased his land in 1836. Barnett Vandeburgh, with James Johnson, built the first brick kiln at Kempenfeldt in 1836 or earlier. , George Ball , Born in 1801, George Ball emigrated in 1828 from Ireland taking passage on the brig “Workington Despatch” bound for Quebec. Disaster struck when their vessel was shipwrecked in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The few survivors were rescued by fishermen in the Gulf and taken to Halifax in the British warship “Tyne”. , Finally in 1833, he came to Kempenfelt and bought the farm which he permanently settled upon the following year. When Mr. Ladd (tavern owner) drowned in Kempenfelt Bay, his widow sold her house to Mr. Ball and moved her family to the United States. He married Francis Ann Gallagher and had 12 children. , Mr. Ball would often raft saw logs across the bay to Lally’s Mill at Tollendal, for cutting into lumber, then bring the lumber back to Kempenfelt for use. George Ball died October 28, 1891, at 90 years of age.