Mersey Townsite, Milton, Nova Scotia

Building the Mersey Townsite 1929

Mersey Townsite 1930s

When I was 7, my family moved to Milton from Liverpool. I became friends with an old lady who lived across the street from us. Her name was Marjorie Stewart and since her 2 grandchildren lived out west, I kinda filled in as a grandchild. I paid many visits to her and have lots of fond memories of the stories she shared with me. She and her husband had moved to Queens County from Halifax, her husband worked for the Power Company. They moved to Milton in an area known as the Mersey Townsite. Until last October I never really knew where it was but had heard many stories about it from her. So last October 5th, myself along with Albert Laing and Gerry Ball visited what remains of the Townsite. It was a small housing development up the River Road in Milton, where the permanent operating staff lived for the power development on the Mersey River. The power development was a fair distance from Milton & Liverpool so housing was needed for the workers. The Stewarts, the Balls, the Laings, the Andersons, Urquharts, Penneys, and Nieforths were names of just some of the families that lived at the townsite. The houses and a school were built in the later 1920s. Eight of the houses were connected to a central sewer and water system, something not common for that time. Everyone had indoor running water and indoor bathrooms.The houses had hardwood floors, fireplaces and gardeners who cared for the properties. Maintenance for the houses was also taken care of by the power company. When you enter the property there is a circular driveway and in the center were beautiful gardens and a flag flying high on the flagpole. It was known as the "pancake". Once again the gardeners cared for this area. The properties had hedges too. They had an outdoor rink, with electricity from late October until the spring. By 1960 the families had all left and moved to Milton and Liverpool leaving the Townsite deserted and eventually many of the houses had been vandalized and stripped of all of their beauty. The houses were eventually torn down and when we visited last October all that exists are a few cements steps and cellars. It was great to visit the Townsite, it was something I had always wondered about for many years. Even better was to go with 2 guys who lived there as kids and could share their memories with me. I videoed my day with Gerry & Albert and watched it tonight, almost a year later. What a treasure!

Mersey Townsite - Pancake and Flagpole can be seen on the left!