Ponsonby, Ontario

Ponsonby
Unincorporated community
Coordinates: 43°37′44″N 80°21′41″W / 43.62889°N 80.36139°W / 43.62889; -80.36139
Country Canada
Province Ontario
County Wellington County
Township Centre Wellington
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Forward sortation area N0G
Area code(s) 519 and 226
NTS Map 040P15
GNBC Code FBMCB

Ponsonby is a ghost town in Ontario, Canada. It was situated along the Garafraxa Settlement Road (which led from Hamilton to Owen Sound via Guelph) to an area known as the Queen's Bush. This settlement road was another government plan to bring settlers to the area with an offer of 50 acres (202,000 m²). The name Garafraxa is said to be a corruption of the word Sassafrax, a shrub that grew in the district. Others believed it was from an Indian word meaning 'panther country'.

Charles Rankin surveyed the Garafraxa Road around 1840, however the road did not become well populated until the 1850s. Ponsonby was another of many small towns in which travellers could stop and rest for the night. The original name of the town was Thorpville, however it was changed in 1863 when James Halley took over the post office.

Coordinates: 43°37′44″N 80°21′41″W / 43.62889°N 80.36139°W / 43.62889; -80.36139

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/22/2011. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.