Why is Ten Hill called Ten Hill?
Editor:
I live near the bottom of the hill just north of County Road 9. I’ve heard several people refer to it as “Ten Hill.” When I ask why it’s called that no one seems to know. Just curious.
Also, I quite often walk north along the creek on the west side of the hill and noticed what looks like a concrete and stone ramp or possibly an old bridge abutment perpendicular to the road between the road and the creek. Possibly there was one on the west side of the creek that was washed away. Next to the ramp there are the remains (a couple of fenders and running board) from a 30s something car. I was wondering if anyone knows what it’s about and what was going on there.
Jerry Smith,
Creemore.
We put the questions out to community members who are a wealth of knowledge (and have super memories) and here’s what they had to say.
From Gerry Blackburn: Ten Hill is located on Lot 10, Concession 4 of the former Township of Nottawasaga, hence the name.
Up until approximately the 1950s, the Johnson brothers who owned the Creemore Meat Market operated a slaughterhouse for cattle and pigs in that area, west of the bottom turn of Ten Hill. They also had an ice house there, where they kept blocks of ice cut from the Mad River and packed in sawdust to keep it from thawing. The existing concrete may have been part of that operation.
From Helen Blackburn: Ten Hill is so named because it is located on Lot 10 in the township of Nottawasaga. Creemore is on Lot 9 on the other side of the main road.
From Noel Vanwalleghem: Going straight up the hill where the creek is, are leftover foundations of the old slaughterhouse. My dad used it for a few years (in the 1950s) then it was abandoned and kids got inside of it and burned it down.
He said the road used to take a sharp turn and at one point the municipality expropriated about four acres to straighten it out.
Before the new road was redesigned straight up the hill was a small driveway from the road right down to that particular slaughterhouse that just has the stones remaining.
If you find yourself wondering about why something local is the way it is, send your question to editor@creemore.com and we will endeavour to find an answer.
