Cumnock is an unincorporated rural community in Centre Wellington Township,

Wellington County, Ontario Wellington County is a county and census division located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The county consists of two towns and five townships, with its seat in the City of Guelph, which is geograp ...

, Canada. Cumnock was part of Nichol Township until 1999. The settlement is located on

Highway 6 Route 6, or Highway 6, may refer to routes in the following countries: International * AH6 (highway), Asian Highway 6 * European route E6 * European route E006 Albania * :de:Nationalstraße 6 (Albanien), National Road SH6 Argentina * P ...

, northwest of Fergus. Once a thriving rural community, little remains of the original settlement.

History

James Samson, a Scottish immigrant, purchased of land in the area in 1852. Samson built a general store and tavern along the Owen Sound Road (now Highway 6), and named the settlement after his hometown of

Cumnock Cumnock (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cumnag'') is a town and former civil parish located in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water. There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie j ...

, Scotland. A post office was established in Samson's store in 1855, with Samson as postmaster. In 1855, Richard Gluyas laid out Gluyasville a short distance north of Cumnock. Gluyasville was eventually absorbed by Cumnock. 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 Cumnock in 1871, and a station was built there. That same year, Cumnock was noted as having a saw mill, a wagon maker, and two hotels (the British Hotel and the Red Lion). The Red Lion Hotel was owned by Scottish immigrant John Muir, who "went back to Scotland several times to bring back wives to Cumnock". The Cumnock Methodist Church was built in 1877. Cumnock was noted as having a cheese factory in 1880.

Decline

At its peak, Cumnock had a population of 200, though by 1908, the settlement had one hotel, two stores, two churches, and a population of 86. The post office closed in 1915, and the Methodist church closed in 1924. An author writing in 1933 described the northern boundary of Nichol Township "where Cumnock used to be", and by 1969, Cumnock was no longer listed on provincial maps. The railroad line through Cumnock was eventually taken over by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

, and was abandoned in 1983.

Cumnock Tract

In 1964, the County of Wellington purchased two parcels of forested land at Cumnock for recreational use. Located within the westernmost parcel is the Cumnock Tract, a walking trail.

Notable people

* James Ross, farmer and member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

References

{{authority control Communities in Wellington County, Ontario