Alma is an unincorporated rural community in Mapleton Township,

Wellington County, Ontario Wellington County is a county located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada and is part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The County, made up of two towns and five townships, is predominantly rural in nature. However many of the residents in the so ...

, Canada.

History

Pioneers began settling along the Elora Saugeen Road, which forms the main street of Alma, during the 1840s. Alexander MacCrea and his wife settled here in 1848, and built a store. The "MacCrae's Corners" post office was established in 1854, and MacCrae was postmaster. In 1854, the settlement's name was changed from MacCrae's Corners to "Alma", after the

Battle of Alma The Battle of the Alma (short for Battle of the Alma River) was a battle in the Crimean War between an allied expeditionary force (made up of French, British, and Ottoman forces) and Russian forces defending the Crimean Peninsula on 20Septem ...

. James Ledingham and his family moved to Alma in 1864, and built a saw and chopping mill. In 1865, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church was established in Alma. The church moved to a new stone church in Alma in 1892. The

Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway (WG&BR) was a railway in Ontario, Canada. It ran roughly northwest from Guelph (in Wellington County) to the port town of Southampton (in Bruce County) on Lake Huron, a distance of . It also had a branch ...

built a line through Alma in 1870. The line was eventually taken over by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

, and was abandoned in 1983. The Alma railroad station has since been destroyed. After the railway was constructed, Alma became "a bustling service centre for the local settlers and travellers". Alma was noted for having a post office, wagon maker, weaver, telegraph office, shoemaker, grist mill, several saw mills, several stores, three churches, and four hotels. In 1879, the population was 250. Wallace Cummings Park in Alma was constructed in 2003 on of donated land. The park features a playground, walking trail, toboggan hill, picnic shelter, community hall, wetland boardwalk, and garden labyrinth.

Education

Alma Public School, part of the

Upper Grand District School Board The Upper Grand District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 18 prior to 1999) is a school board in Ontario, Canada. It spans an area of 4211 km² and serves approximately 35,000 students through 65 elemen ...

, is located in Alma.

Notable people

James Scarth Gale James S. Gale (February 19, 1863 – January 31, 1937; in modern Korean 제임스 스카스 게일, in old Sino-Korean characters 奇一 (기일)) was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary, educator and Bible translator in Korea. Early life Gale was ...

, Presbyterian missionary, educator and Bible translator in Korea. * George Alexander McQuibban, physician and member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

. McQuibban lived in Alma and had a practice there.

Gallery

File:Alma, Ontario (1910).jpg, Alma, 1910 File:Houses on Peel Street in Alma, Ontario (1910).jpg, Houses on Peel Street, 1910 File:Alma, Ontario (2017).jpg, Alma, 2017 File:Alma Station Steam Train - panoramio.jpg, Historic locomotive near the former railroad station

References

{{authority control Communities in Wellington County, Ontario