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The township of Erin
is located north of the
City of Guelph
, and has a population of about 5,350 (1975). It has many prosperous farms, and
a number of industries including mills, fabricating plants, and livestock
yards. There are a number of communities within Erin, the largest being the
Village of Erin. The township contains some 27,889 acres of rolling hills and
dales, and is the source of the Credit and Eramosa Rivers.
The southern half of the township was surveyed in 1819 and
the northern portion in 1820 by Charles Kennedy and Donald Black, who named
the township "Erin" for Ireland.
From Smith's Canadian Gazetteer 1846 ERIN "A township in the Wellington District; is bounded on the north-east by the township of Caledon; on the north-west by Garafraxa; on the south-west by Eramosa; and on the south-east by Esquesing. In Erin 32,447 acres are taken up, 7,945 of which are under cultivation. Much of the land in the township is hilly and stony. There is a small settlement in the south-west of the township called "McMullen's Mills," where are a grist and saw mill, tavern and blacksmith's shop, and between forty and fifty inhabitants. There are one grist and four saw mills in the township. In Erin, 1,527 acres of Crown lands are open for sale, at 8s. currency per acre. Population in 1841, 1,368. Ratable property in the township, 23,797." |