Actons Corners is a community in the municipality of

North Grenville North Grenville is a township in eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville on the Rideau River. It is located just south of Ottawa in Canada's National Capital Region. It was established on January 1, 1998, through ...

United Counties of Leeds and Grenville The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, commonly known as Leeds and Grenville, is a county in Ontario, Canada, in the Eastern Ontario subregion of Southern Ontario. It fronts on the Saint Lawrence River and the international boundary between ...

, in

eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It s ...

, Canada. An

unincorporated place An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and compact rural community, it is located on County Road 43 (formerly provincial Highway 43) between

Kemptville Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately south of the downtown core of Ottawa and s ...

and Merrickville at the intersection with Actons Corners Road (north to the Rideau River) and County Road 25 (south to Oxford Mills). Except for an historic stone church built in the late 19th century, the North Grenville Archives, and a brickyard, the area consists mainly of farms and homes set in a mixture of farmland and cedar forest. Addresses in the community are either listed as RR #1, Oxford Mills or RR #5, Kemptville.

History

The intersection was created between Lots 15 and 16 of Concessions 2 and 3 of Oxford Township in the early 19th century and was originally named Bobtown, with only a Blacksmith's shop in the area. In the late 1820s, Robert Acton (for whom the community is named) and his family arrived from West

Connaught Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and settled on Lot 16, Concession 3. Robert's son, John Acton, was a capable shoemaker, but worked on the Rideau Canal as a stonemason and later constructed several buildings in the township including the grist mill at Oxford Mills and the stone house at Actons Corners that replaced the family's original log dwelling. At its height, Actons Corners boasted a post office, a school, two churches, a cheese factory, and an

Orange Hall Orange Hall may refer to: ;in Ireland * Orange Institution The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protes ...

. The post office operated between the 1890s and 1912, when it was replaced by rural mail delivery from Kemptville. A stone school was first opened in 1858 to replace two log schools to the east and west of the village. In 1905 the school was demolished and replaced with a new stone building which became the North Grenville Archives in 1998. A white-framed

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Church was constructed in 1875 and a stone Anglican church, St. Augustine, was built in 1879. The Methodist church was sold and removed in 1963, while the Anglican church remains standing, though it has been

deconsecrated Deconsecration, also called secularization, is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The practice is usually performed on churches or synagogues to ...

and is now privately owned. Scott's Cheese Factory was built in 1886 and operated until 1948. The Orange Hall served as a community centre until it was closed and the building sold and moved in the late 1930s.

References

* *Newans, Jean (Ed)(1994) ''Acton's Corners'' Other map sources: * * {{authority control Communities in Leeds and Grenville United Counties