In 1878, Adam Nelson built a grist and saw mill on Shannon Creek marking the beginning of Nelson. The year 1882 saw Nelson an incorporated town of over 1,000 people. It was the judicial county seat for Dufferin County, and it had a land titles office, saw mill, grist mill, and cheese factory. Its weekly newspaper, The Mountaineer, was published from 1880 to 1884.
Nelson was on a regular stagecoach route to Miami, Lintrathen, Campbellville, Carman, Salterville, Warrington, Lowestoft (Roland), and Opawaka. It had Anglican, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches, and supported lodges of the Masons, Orange Order, IOOF, and Royal Templars of Temperance.
The Canadian Pacific Railway bypassed Nelson in 1883 and the people gradually moved their business places and homes to other locations, the majority going the Morden. One of the buildings abandoned at the site was the courthouse which, being a substantial brick structure, could not be moved. The last building was moved away in 1905. The community was later named Dunston.
On 29 June 1958, a commemorative plaque at the former site of Nelson was unveiled at a ceremony attended by Rev. A. G. Johnson, A. Ross Boulton, Judge John Milton George, Miss Zella Collins, Bert Boulton, Miss Elizabeth Duncan, Rev. George R. Cook, Miss Joanne Duncan, and former residents of Nelson and district.
Nelson commemorative monument (July 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Nelson commemorative monument (June 2023)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.26665, W98.18175
denoted by symbol on the map above
This list of Nelson residents is drawn from the 1884 Henderson’s Directory and Gazetteer.
Resident
Occupation
James Aitkens
Contractor
Alan Joseph Adamson (1857-1928)
Farmer
E. M. Allen
Blacksmith (Allen & McIntyre)
Edward A. Bailey (1837-1918)
Editor
George Beasley
Plasterer (Brunsden & Beasley)
Walter Blanchard
Bailiff
J. T. Blowey
Furniture
James Rippoth Bonny (1850-1924)
Civil servant
Richard Brunsden
Plasterer (Brunsden & Beasley)
Con Clerihue
General store
James Clerihue
General store
George Cochrane
J. J. Cochrane
Deputy sheriff
William E. Cochrane
Shoemaker
C. F. Collins
Clerk of Carlton Municipality
J. Colpitts
Cleric
Thomas Seymour Coppinger (1860-1940)
General store (Meikle & Coppinger)
Thomas Duncan (c1850-1910)
Blacksmith
C. R. Dunsford
Banker
Albert Eaton
Real estate agent
David Ferguson
Carriage maker
Norton Flemming
Miller
John Fox
Contractor
James Hugh Fraser (c1927-1899)
Miller
Julius Frazelle Galbraith (1854-1934)
Publisher, Mountaineer
W. Garrett
Blacksmith
T. B. Godfrey
Hardware
W. M. Haley
General store (Haley & Sutton)
A. Harris
Agricultural implements (A. Harris & Son)
John Henderson Haverson (1854-1932)
Barrister
James Aaron Hobbs (1863-1932)
Pharmacist
Fremont Irwin
Agent
J. P. Irwin
Agent
G. J. Jackson
Photographer
Alexander Johns
Hotelkeeper (Johns Brothers)
M. C. Johns
Hotelkeeper (Johns Brothers)
Andrew Laughlin
Registrar
George Leary
Postmaster
H. S. Lemon
Barrister
Corbet Locke (1854-1932)
Barrister
G. T. Lundy
Hotelkeeper
H. B. Martin
Professor of music
James McCann
Bartender
Benjamin James McConnell (1861-1923)
Physician
John McGregor
Harness maker
H. McIntyre
Blacksmith
John Brown McLaren (1855-1916)
Barrister
Harry Meikle (1857-1931)
General store (Meikle & Coppinger)
William Morrison
Builder
Wilfred Pirt
Agent
Johnston Rinn
Livery stable
Joseph Rinn
Stage proprietor
M. B. Rombough, DLS
Land surveyor
George Ruddell
Carpenter
John Henry Ruddell (1859-1906)
Harness maker
William Hall Salts (1856-?)
Hotelkeeper
William Steele
Cabinet maker
W. J. Sutton
Banker (Haley & Sutton)
T. Underwood
Carriage maker
J. T. West
Watchmaker
James G. West
Auctioneer
David Henry Wilson (1855-1926)
Physician
Robert Wilson
Physician
T. N. Wilson
Cleric
See also:
A Manitoba Ghost Town by Hartwell Bowsfield
Manitoba Pageant, September 1956Historic Sites of Manitoba: Nelsonville Cemetery (RM of Thompson)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Mountain City (RM of Stanley)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dunston Community Hall (RM of Thompson)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Stephen Town Site (RM of Stanley)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Thomas Anglican Church (131 Eighth Street, Morden)
A Sketch of Both Sides of Manitoba by Jeff Gee, 1981, page 134.
Henderson’s Manitoba and North-West Gazetteer and Directory, 1884. Manitoba Legislative Library.
“Judge Locke, aged Manitoba jurist, dies in Vancouver,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 February 1932, page 10.
“Evacuation of Nelson” by Howard Winkler, Winnipeg Free Press, 7 May 1953, page 25.
“Cairn will mark site of Nelson,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 June 1958, page 13.
“Nelson,” Historic Sites Advisory Board Office Files, Schedule CH0263, Accession GR1597, Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 27 November 2023
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