Jarvis

History

Jarvis is located on land originally granted to William Jarvis, Provincial Secretary of Upper Canada from 1792 to 1817. On May 24, 1873, a fire destroyed a quarter of the town. Although there were no deaths a large amount of wooden structures in town were destroyed. The town was much bigger in the early 1900s, featuring 4 churches, 4 hotels, 5 blacksmiths, a school, brickyard, and cheese factories. On September 26, 1991, a natural gas explosion occurred at a residence in town, injuring the homeowner. The then population of 1300 people were evacuated for 4 days. Natural gas lines, electricity lines, and phone lines into town were disabled until the all clear was given.