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History


The founders of Paisley were Simon Orchard and Samuel T. Rowe, residents of Durham, Ontario, who, in the spring of 1851 came to Walkerton intending to settle there. Rowe became involved in a building project in Walkerton, but Orchard, who reported having had a dream of rich lands at the confluence of two rivers in the area then known as the “Queen’s Bush”, constructed a raft 30′ by 15′ of cedar logs, and with his family and household goods, floated down the Saugeen River with no really fixed destination.

On the first eve of their journey they made camp along the Saugeen at the mouth of the Teeswater River. In daylight, they were pleased with the surroundings and decided to settle there. They built a crude shanty, on the north side of the river, from boards they had brought on the raft. (The location was near the present site of the Baptist Church).

Samuel Rowe arrived by raft at the same location a few weeks later. He cleared land on the south side of the river and built a cabin across from the present Town Hall.
Surveyors working northward locating the Elora Road came to the spot where Orchard and Rowe had settled. A log building was erected and became known as Rowe’s Tavern.

In 1856 Orchard and Rowe obtained a patent from the Crown, and the village was surveyed. In February 1856, the first post office, with Thomas Orchard as postmaster, was opened. The village was named Paisley after a town in Renfrewshire, Scotland.

A spot in the wilderness had been transformed into a busy community with many thriving industries. One year after the first locomotive chugged into Paisley in June 1872, the village had 1038 inhabitants.

from An Historic Album of Paisley, published 1974