Saltford is a small unincorporated community in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, located at the intersection of Highway 21 and Saltford Road, on the east bank of the

Maitland River The Maitland River is a river in Huron County, Perth County and Wellington County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Shows the course of the river highlighted on a topographic map. The river is in the Great Lakes Basin and empties into Lake Huro ...

in the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh just east of Goderich. In early 1866, local entrepreneur Samuel Platt discovered the presence of brine while drilling for oil in the community. He subsequently developed a salt extraction business, using an evaporation process. This discovery inspired the development of several salt extraction operations in the immediate area, eventually culminating in the opening of the Sifto Salt mine in nearby Goderich, currently (2007) the third largest salt producer in the world. Saltford's name has been changed several times throughout its history. In 1834, brothers

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Robert Dunlop Stephen Robert Dunlop (25 November 1960 – 15 May 2008) was a Northern Irish motorcycle racer, the younger brother of fellow road racer, the late Joey Dunlop, and the father of William Dunlop and Michael Dunlop. Like Joey, Robert died after ...

named their settlement on the north shore of the

''Gairbraid'', after their mother's home in

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Pe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The name changed to ''Bridgend Place'', ''Maitlandville'', and finally in 1879, ''Saltford''.Rayburn, Alan ''Place Names of Ontario'' (University of Toronto Press), Toronto-Buffalo-London,1997, ), pg.305

History Pre 1900

In 1866 Samuel Platt was drilling the northern bank of the Maitland river in search of oil. At a depth of 960 feet he struck one of the most expansive deposits of salt in the world. A sample of the extracted salt brine was tested by an authority of the time, Professor Goessman, who said it was "the most concentrated possible and the purest known." The discovery of the salt deposits developed the local economy with at least 10 salt extraction and evaporator plants producing salt in 1872.

The Boom times 1900-1920

Salford was a community of about 250 people in the late 1800s. There were several thriving businesses including: MacEwan Salt Works Savage's brick yard The Crown and Anchor was the first tavern in Colbone Township established in ????. The Lasham Hotel est.? torn down 1915. Martin's Hotel Well's Brewery A cigar manufacturing plant Symonds Bros. cooperage (1909) McIntye's blacksmith shop Gallagher's harness shop J.T. Goldthorpe fruit evaporator plant (1909) Bisset's Creamery that supplied milk to urban communities throughout Ontario

References

The Star newspaper October 7, 1909 - Page 1, Saltford has a fire

Sources

External links

The History of Sifto Canada Inc.

Map of Colborne Township circa 1867

Map of Bridgend Place circa 1867
{{authority control Communities in Huron County, Ontario