Moving Up to Higher Ground – ImPort Stanley

Last weekend, my neighbour Carol and I went to an open house in our village.

This wasn’t the sale of a mansion where we’d see how the other half lived. Nor was it a close neighbour’s home, where we’d gather intel on what our own houses are worth today. This place is a definite fixer-upper. And by going inside, we learned some fascinating stuff about Port Stanley’s history.

Our village grew on the banks of Kettle Creek which flows into Lake Erie. But this is the second village in the same area. The first, called Selborne, was dismantled around the 1850s.

How a Village Failed to Thrive

Selborne was settled in the early 1800s along Kettle Creek, about a mile inland from Lake Erie’s shore. They chose this spot because the area was under threat of invasion from American forces. The shoreline would have left them too open and vulnerable. Houses, a distillery, and a grist mill were built and the little village grew to about eighteen families.

Sometime in the 1850s the creek experienced a phenomenon that has plagued it in recent years, too. It froze over, then thawed, and froze again and large pieces of ice were forced onto the banks. When they melted, the runoff and mud flooded the homes. Townsfolk realized their location was too risky. Worries about Americans were over. So, they dismantled the town and moved buildings away from the creek. The mill was taken to an area on the outskirts of what is now Port Stanley. And one of the homes is the one Carol and I went through, now safely on a hill.

There’s evidence of its age in the basement where massive logs were used as joists. Rough texture on walls and an awkward floor plan also typify homes of that time. However, knob and tube wiring has all been replaced. Some walls, the bathroom, and kitchen were given upgrades decades ago. An elderly uncle of the owners lived there until last fall. It’s in a really good location for someone who’s willing to gut it and start fresh. It has, as they say, solid bones.

It Will Take a Village

Selborne, also known by its nickname Suckerville, is Port’s legendary ghost town. There’s a tourism sign about it just before Moore Water Gardens on Sunset Drive. I love these tidbits of history. What was life like back then? Lawless. Smallpox was a huge worry. You needed your neighbours and they needed you. Honest character and the ability to work from dawn to dusk were super important. As was knowing when to stop fighting the elements and move up to higher ground.

As I wrote in my earlier series, ImPort Stanley, the current village was once a top ten international shipping port. It’s been through several incarnations although fishing village has been a constant. Thanks to Don Cosens who shared this info about Selborne with us on Sunday. His family has been in the area dating back several generations. We won’t bid on the house – it’s offered in an estate auction – but it was a fascinating tour. And these details add to the charm of the place we call home.