Norval on the Credit 
In Toronto Township, on the 28th October, 1818,
the Chiefs of the Otter and Eagle tribes, "PrincipalMen of
the Mississauga Nation" put their totems on "Treaty
19"; and agreement to buy a large tract of land in the Home
District. Lieutenant Governor Maitland named two of the townships,
Chinguacousy and Esquesing, names used by the Mississauga Indians;
Norval is in both townships.
The earliest settler, Loyalist Alexander McNab
and family, arrived about 1820. Alexander raised sheep on the
hills, to the east of the village.
James McNab, brother of Alexander, was a Lieutenant
in the York Volunteers, and fought the Americans in the War of
1812. James built a grist and saw mills on the Credit River. Oak
for barrel staves, and great timbers of white pine, masts for
the British navy, were floated down the river.
In 1827, James advertised his "Esquesing
Mills" in Mackenzie's Colonial Advocate, offering free land
grants to tradesmen. The mills were sold to General Peter Adamson
in 1838. He leased them to Gooderham and Company. James Worts
ran the distillery and the mill.
Colonel Mitchell, a son-in-lay of General Adamson
bought the mills, but later the Bank of Ontario seized them. Robert
Noble bought them in 1868 and built new brick mills. The flour
mill could produce over 200 barrels a day; a nearby cooper shop
made the barrels. The flour mill burned in 1930; the grist mill
was destroyed in Hurricane Hazel.
The village had blacksmith and harness shops,
carriage works, woollen and flax mills, broom factory, ashery,
bakery, brass foundry, general stores, Orange Lodge, Mechanic's
Institute, and several hotels; Norval was a main stagecoach stop
from Toronto to Guelph.
The Presbyterian Church had the first congregation,
and built a frame church beside the cemetery;it was replaced by
a fine gothic church in 1868. The Methodist built a church in
1850 and replaced it with a brick one in 1889. The Anglican Church,
built in 1846, is the original building.
Norval Post Office was established in 1836 (earlier
names, McNabsville or McNab's Mill). Tradition says the name came
from the Scottish play "Douglas", by John Home. "My
name is Norval; on the Grampian Hills."
Colonel William Clay was the first postmaster
and had the job for over 50 years. Three generations, William,
Everett and Hardy Barnhill, were postmasters from 1897 to 1957.
The Post Office closed in 1990 and became a retail postal outlet;
the last Postmaster was Joan Carter.
The first school was a frame building near the
cemetery. By the 1860's a brick school had been erected in the
village, and a second room in 1873. The school closed in 1974.
Norval had it's own militia company and drill
shed. The only action they had was a trip to the Welland Canal,
to protect it from an invasion of Fenians from the United States.
By the time they arrived the Fenians had gone home. A picnic and
dance were held when they returned and the Queen was cheered.
After World War I, villagers met the veterans at the "radial"
with flaming torches, and paraded through the village burning
"Kaisers" (straw effigies) in the ditches. Veterans
from both world wars were presented with an engraved watch.
The Farmer's Bank, built in 1907, failed in 1910.
Metropolitan Bank purchased the building, later merging with the
Bank of Nova Scotia. The branch closed in 1931.
In 1913, Upper Canada College bought 500 acres
of land and had plans to move the College from Toronto to Norval,
but plans changed. Their outdoor school is there today.
Norval was well-situated for early settlement
because of the river. The Guelph Plank Road was completed in 1851
and Colonel Clay organised a "grand ball" to celebrate.
The Grand Trunk Railway (later the CNR) opened in 1856, but Norval
Station was over a mile north of the village. The station closed
in 1930's. A nearby post office, called Norval Station, closed
in 1947. The last postmaster was Arthur Morris.
The Toronto-Guelph electric Suburban Railway
(radial line) opened in 1917, with a switch into the village to
serve the flour mills. The railway closed in 1931.
In the early 1920's three new bridges were built
over the Credit River and the mill races, while the King's Highway
No. 7 was paved. Norval was a village of bridges, at one time
there were nine.
Hollywood Hotel and Mill
Some early owners existing houses were: William
Gooderham, distiller; Arthur Little, shoemaker(1858); Peter Adamson,
mill owner; Robert Hamilton, broom maker; Dr. Samuel Webster,
village doctor for over 50 years; George Day, blacksmith; Robert
Watson Sr., blacksmith and carriage maker; Robert Watson, baker.
Famous residents include J.W.L. Forster, 19th
century portrait painter of noted Canadians; Jack Watkins (1902-1964),
former Ambassador to Russia; Lucy Maude Montgomery lived at the
Presbyterian Manse from 1926 to 1935.
Information taken from Norval on the Credit by
Rev. Dr. Richard Ruggle
for the Esquesing Historical Society
Many thanks to Halton Hills Public Libraries and Joan Carter.
Published in conjunction with the 85th Anniversary of the Norval
Women's Institute, 1991.
ISBN 0-921091-13-5
[Acton] [Ashgrove]
[Ballinafad] [Georgetown]
[Glen Williams] [Limehouse] [Norval] [Speyside] [Terra Cotta]
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