Drummond Methodist Church

About

The community owes its existence to its location on Richmond Road midway between Richmond Landing near Bytown (now Ottawa ) and the military settlement at Richmond, at the junction with the concession road leading west to the Hazeldean neighbourhood in neighbouring Goulbourn Township. It was also the junction between Richmond Road and the "base line" which was the boundary road between concessions on the Ottawa front and those on the Rideau front. Hence, the plural "Corners". It was named after Hugh Bell, who owned a tavern on the site of the present day Bells Corners Public School from 1834 to 1863.

Prior to that it was known locally as just "the Corners", but when the first post office opened on 6 August 1851 it had to adopt a formal name and became Bell's Corners. Today it is most commonly spelled without the apostrophe.

In 1832, there were nine taverns along this strip of road. Early stores catered to both local people and travelers.

In 1841 the Carleton County Agricultural Society was formed. It held its annual exhibition in Bells Corners until 1895, when it was moved to Goodwood Park in the Town of Richmond and later became the Richmond Fair.

In 1850, Bells Corners became part of Nepean Township, Carleton County. The Town meeting to elect the first Council under the new system was held at Bells Corners on 7 January 1850. Frederick Bearman, J.P., Chester Chapman, James Spain, John Robertson, J.P., Michael Grady were elected as Councillors. The first Council meeting was also held in Bells Corners on 21 January 1850, when Colonel Frederick Bearman was chosen Reeve.

By 1852, there were three taverns, three shoe shops, two blacksmiths, two carpentry shops, a new store, and a tailor.

The Union Church on Old Richmond Road was built in 1853 by the Anglicans, Methodists and Presbyterians on land donated by Hugh Bell, and is the present site of the Bells Corners Union Cemetery. It was the only building to survive the Great Fire of 1870.

The Canada Directory for 1857-58 listed the population of Bells Corners at about 70. It listed the following people:

- Arnold, George, postmaster, treasurer of township, and dealer in dry goods, groceries, hardware, produce, etc.

- Bell, Hugh, hotel keeper, - a good house

- Byers, William, lumber merchant and farmer

- Spittall, Alexander, blacksmith and carpenter,

- Taylor, Richmond, councillor By 1867, Bells Corners was a post village with a population of 150 in the township of Nepean, county of Carleton, on the Ottawa and Nepean Macadamized road, 10 miles from Ottawa. The village had a daily mail, two stores, a school and a church which was used by the Church of England, Presbyterians, and Wesleyan Methodists. The early citizens included: Adam Abbott, a general merchant; Hugh I Bell, a farmer; George Arnold, a postmaster; E. Brown, a bailiff 7th Division Court; and William Brownlee, a general merchant boot & shoemaker.

In 1866, the 43rd Battalion of Infantry (otherwise known as the Carleton Blazers) was formed in Bells Corners with companies in many of the surrounding communities and absorbed Ottawa's volunteer rifle company.

By 1869, Bell's Corners was on the stage line from Town Ottawa to Perth. That directory listed the following individuals:

- Arnold, George, Postmaster and general merchant

- Gourlay, Rev. J. L, M.A. (Presbyterian)

- Pettit, Rev. C. B., M.A. (Church of England)

- Wright, Albert, tanner Most of Bells Corners was destroyed by the Great Fire in August 1870.

The oldest buildings in Bells Corners are the former Hartin's Hotel, built after the fire in 1870 on the site of Robert Malcomson's Tavern, and the former Drummond Methodist Church, built in 1898 from stone taken from the old Union Church.