1622 Housey’s Rapids Road
The quilt square at 1622 Housey’s Rapids Road marks the site of the Housey’s Rapids General Store and Post Office (c 1878-1980) which serviced the Housey’s Rapids Community and surrounding cottages for over 100 years. The quilt square was designed by Sue Ward from a sketch done by Barb Taylor. Barb outlined and painted the quilt and it was installed by Vern Taylor, Barb’s husband, the son of Alfred and Lydia Taylor who owned the store from 1934 to 1957.
Post Office – The post office was located on this property (as well it housed a store) and the following postmasters as listed: (There was also a post office in Lewisham from 1882 to 1927 and another in Barkway from 1878 to 1957.)
| Postmaster | Date of Appointment |
| James Housey | 1876-01-01 |
| P.J. Brace | 1886-07-01 |
| Phylatus H. Brace | 1906-10-01 |
| W. L. Runham | 1910-08-20 |
| Mrs. Annie Brace | 1911-10-12 |
| Henry Hill | 1920-01-16 |
| Alfred Taylor | 1934-05-23 to1957-06-15 |
| *From 1957 to 1968 there was further postal service but only in the summer months. | |
Mrs. Iva Break says “I would walk to pick up the mail at the grocery store in Housey’s Rapids by myself and I would wait and wait for the mail and it would be pitch black. It was scary by the bridge.”
Store
The store at Housey’s Rapids was run by the above families.
Vern Taylor (Barb) son of Alfred Taylor says that their family came ‘because it was really bad in the depression. My Father was a professional pianist and he played for the silent movies. When the talkies came in he lost his job. My parents saw the ad in the Toronto paper for the store. They came up to see it in March 1934 by train. Mr. Hill met them at the Kilworthy station and brought them up Kahshe Lake. My Mother was terrified because there was 3” of water on the ice. They bought and moved up in the spring of the same year. We sold ice, dynamite, and shells for guns, milk pails, brooms, and horseshoe nails. We sold dry goods: lots of canned goods and bins with rice, flour, dates, raisins and beans. Some people would just buy 5 or 10 lb. instead of the 100 lb. ones.
Carl Break remembers ‘Mr. Taylor had a little truck and he would pick up 100 lb. bags of flour and sugar. After that Lorne McWade would bring them in. Roads were not so good then.”
Women’s Institute / Neighbourhood Club
The building that was used for many years by the Housey’s Rapids members was across the road from the store. The organization was a group of dedicated women in the community. In 1948 the Housey’s Rapids and Barkway Institutes held a meeting and decided they would help improve the cemeteries, as written by Florence Rebman in the Tweedsmuir History. These ladies accomplished many other good deeds for the communities. Each year they hand-sewed a quilt as a fund raiser, and added to that by having a bake sale with homemade goodies each summer. They made delicious pies, butter tarts, cakes and cookies!
