Title

Farran's Point

Part 1

The early beginnings of Farran's Point were typical of the many small loyalist villages along the St. Lawrence. One of the earliest settlers in the area was Charles Curtis Farran Sr., (later known as C.C.) who arrived in Upper Canada in the late 1700s. He married Catherine Baker, daughter of a loyalist, who was granted property on January 26, 1808.

C.C. was a builder and an exceptionally enterprising individual. He went on to own grist, carding, saw and shingle mills and just to round things out, a general store. He also owned a large tract of land north of the village west of where the Grand Trunk Railway later built a small flag station around 1855. To power his mills, Farran built a power station near the rapids on the south side of the village and owned all the power rights for many years. Earlier references to Jacob Farrand as a founder have since been discounted.

Main StreetMain Street [ca. 1910]

C.C. Farran, and later on the Kerr brothers, George and Joseph, were responsible for the village's early growth. Joseph Kerr, a newcomer from Ireland, was another mill owner who went on to become very prosperous. Joseph, along with his brothers, George, Thomas and William, owned two sawmills, a grist mill, farms and a large general store with branches at Wales and Aultsville. All the brothers were active in politics. Joseph Kerr served the community as Reeve and both Joseph and George were active at the provincial level. The huge Kerr home, built on a corner lot that included a store on the east side, was often referred to as "Buckingham Palace".

The success of the Farran and Kerr operations attracted a number of other businesses to the area and by the mid 1800s the little community boasted a population of around 300. The mills were located along the shoreline at the south end of the village. The business district was situated further north with most of the businesses located either on Mill Street, which ran north from the Farran Mills, or on the north side of the highway, known locally as Main Street. The community was bounded on each side by property owned by the Kerr brothers.