Springfield Park

(from the memoirs of V.M Manning)

 

According to the army ordnance maps, the area that used to be known as Springfield Park is eight feet lower than Pinehurst. This is very evident from the black soil in that area.

 

My father built a house in that area for a family named Cockerton. While he was there, the men came to drill an artesian well. They were able to knock a 25 ft. length of 1 1/4-inch pipe all the way down before hitting rock. At Pinehurst, the rock is about four feet down and in places comes out at the surface.  

 

I can remember wooden sidewalks built on stilts, two feet above the ground, and all the pairs of rubber boots with names on [them]. These were left in the station house at Springfield each day, awaiting their owners to wear on their return from Montreal during the springtime flooding.

 

The land agent, a Mr. Harding, used to advertise lots for sale "high and dry" and show clients the land in Pinehurst. When they came to build, they found they had bought in Springfield.

 

Some of the old names living in Springfield Park around 1920 were:

 

Campbell

Clitheroe

Cockerton

Davis

Groves

Hall

Martin

Groves

Matthews

Osborne

Twaits