Caledon's Heritage: Alton Mechanic's Institute & Library - Built 1882 by local mill owner William Algie.The one storey, three bay frame & brick veneer building is the only purpose-built mechanics' institute & library in Caledon. It served as the Alton village library until 1984.

200 yrs - Alton: 1850's - E. Shrigley starts building a grist mill with J. Farr & sells it to miller, Joseph Wright & brother Thomas. John & Agnes Smith Meek build a roughcast home on Main St. A new post office called Alton is located in his home, & John is appointed postmaster.

200 yrs - Alton: 1850's - Robert Meek, noted in 1851 census as a cooper, opens a general store. John Meek builds the 3-storey frame Alton Hotel, SE corner of Main Street and Queen. McClellan in-law, Richard S. Wilkinson, buys William McClellan’s sawmill & the land surrounding it

200 yrs - Alton: 1850's - Post office moves to J. Meek's new store beside his hotel. Charles Wheelock establishes blocks of land, lays out lots and surveys mill privileges for the Village Plan.

200 yrs - Alton: 1850's - Wheelock's plan maps businesses north on Main Street of Queen St. such as: Wright’s grist mill, Alton House Inn,Robert Rayburn’s tannery, Wood turners’ shop

200 yrs - Alton: 1850's - Wheelock's plan also maps: Andrew Keys’ smithy & house, west along Queen St., William Boddy’s shoe making shop, south on Main St., John Ford’s chair & bedstead factory, Main St. @ Edmund, & John McQuarrie store near Robert McClure’s woollen mill.

Caledon's Heritage: Alton Mill c.1881-established as the Beaver Knitting Mill by William Algie, was renowned for producing fleece lined long underwear. From 1935-1982 it manufactured rubber products. In 1999 the then derelict building was converted to an Arts and Heritage Centre.

Caledon's Heritage: Alton Schoolhouse entails 2 adjacent one-room schoolhouses c.1875 & c.1876 remodelled early 1900's.The small scale of the building with large windows & belfry capture a sense of a rural village school, an important component of Main St. streetscape since 1875.

200 yrs - Alton: 1870's - brought two railroads to Alton, the Toronto, Grey & Bruce arrives east of the village in 1871. A rail line is built with a spur to local quarries & lime kilns. Credit Valley Railway arrives in December - with a station on Station St. by the tracks.

200 yrs - Alton: 1870's - three hotels are built. The three storey Dixie House in 1871. The Rockview Hotel, is built close to train station, near lime kilns the same year. And in 1873 the West End Hotel located on the NE corner James & Queen St. West.

200 yrs - Alton: 1870's - industry & growth. 1871, the Barbers start building carriages & the Alton Foundry is established by Alex Dick. In 1878, J. Holden operates a drug store east of Queen/Main. 1875, Fead & Middleton register a Plan of Subdivision for the SE village quadrant.

200 yrs - Alton: 1870's - The Presbyterian Church on Main St. opens in 1874 & the Alton Congregation Church on Main/Edmund (SE corner) is built in 1877. In 1874, the frame schoolhouse burns down - it is replaced in 1875 & 1876 by the brick structure that stands today.

Caledon's Heritage: Wright-Didd house - c1880 - is a 1 1/2 storey Regency style house with a wing at the rear. The corners are local quarried stone, the lintels /sills are rock-faced sandstone & the walls are fieldstone parged with limestone mortar in an ashlar patterned finish.

200 years - Alton: 1880's saw industrial growth with the Alton Knitting Mill (Millcroft Inn) & the Beaver Knitting Mill (Alton Mill Arts Centre)being built. William Algie builds the Mechanics Institute Library & the Science Hall - a place for lectures, concerts & recitals.

200 yrs - Alton: 1880's - the 1st doctor sets up a medical practice, a commercial block with 2 stores is built on Queen & a series of worker homes are built along Amelia. Bell Telephone runs a long-distance line from Toronto via other villages. Each community had a single phone.

200 yrs - Alton: 1880's - In 1889 a disastrous flood hits Alton as mill dams along Shaw’s Creek are all washed out.

Caledon's Heritage: Dod's Long house - c1870s - is a 2 storey, Italianate style home built by foundry owner Alexander Dick during a period of considerable affluence in Alton. Dick lived in an 11 room house on Amelia St. - this home likely housed family members or employees.

June 5th is George Bolton Day. It will mark the 200th anniversary of his purchase of land along the Humber River for a gristmill.

Today is George Bolton Day! Congratulations Bolton….it’s your 200th anniversary!!!

If you're around downtown Bolton in @YourCaledon, keep your eyes out for 8 @RegionofPeel signal boxes. They now feature images from our collection, interpreted by Albion-Bolton Historical Society.