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Some of the present-day residents of
Morrisburg think it was a good thing that the old
downtown was destroyed because it has allowed
the building of a modern business centre on
Morrisburg’s new main street several blocks north
of the river. For a village with a population of only
2,500 people, Morrisburg has an amazingly
vibrant business section. There’s a large Canadian
Tire, a major grocery store, a strip mall with a variety
of small businesses, a Tim Hortons and a
McDonald’s, two law offices, real estate and insurance
brokers, physician’s offices and several manufacturing
plants such as SDS Kerr Beavers
Dental, which this year is celebrating 60 years of
production in Morrisburg.
Some beautiful old brick homes have been
carefully restored on the streets just back from
the waterfront park. They are large and Victorian
in style — obviously from a time when people had
large families and the money to enjoy living graciously.
This whole area of South Dundas County
benefited enormously from the presence of one
man during the Depression years. That man was
Dr. Mahlon Locke, who ran a clinic in nearby
Williamsburg that attracted people from all over.
His specialty was feet and he was able to manipulate
the bones of the foot in such a way that all
sorts of people claimed to have been miraculously
cured of their foot problems. He charged one
dollar for two treatments and is reported to have
treated a thousand people a day. It’s hard to imagine
all those people arriving by train, boat and
automobile to this quiet little area, but newspaper
reports attest to this. When Dr. Locke died in
1942, the Ottawa newspaper gave just as big a
headline to Dr. Locke’s death as to “Singapore
Blasts Enemy Invasion Boats.” The provision of
food and accommodation for all these visitors
kept Morrisburg and Williamsburg humming all
through the Great Depression.
YOU’LL SEE MURALS — AND MORE
A beautifully painted mural of Dr. Locke
and all of his patients is painted on the wall of
his former home in Williamsburg. The mural is
part of a series of murals painted on surfaces
throughout South Dundas County.
Morrisburg has five murals, one of which
shows a house being moved during the building
of the Seaway. Another shows soldiers
returning home after the Second World War.
All are on the sides of public buildings and
are worth touring to see.
One of the largest murals covers the
whole front of the Upper Canada
Playhouse, another big attraction that
brings in people from Ottawa, Montreal
and tourists visiting the area from the
United States and Europe. The Playhouse
offers a selection of four plays throughout
the summer and is often sold out.
Heading east on Highway 2 out of
Morrisburg you’ll come to Crysler Farm,
the site of one of the most important battles
of Canadian-U.S. history. In 1813, the
U.S. tried to invade, but our Anglo-
Canadian army beat the soldiers back.
An impressive monument to those who
lost their lives stands at the top of a hill
overlooking the river. There’s also an
interpretive centre on-site.
Nearby on the other side of the
road is the provincially owned 18-hole
Upper Canada Golf Course, rated with
four stars by Golf Digest. It’s even got its
own airstrip and you can book online.
And just outside Upper Canada
Village,you can visit the Queen
Elizabeth Gardens for free, including
a rose garden. As well, there is a 15minute
miniature train ride you
Due West/Due East Magazine • Summer 2008 Ottawa Page 21