Shawville Walking Tour

The present Anglican church was built in the 1870s through the hard work and dedication of the local congregation. The building is on the old Norman design, constructed of field stone, with a tower in front and a main entrance along the long side of the church. The Irish Protestant settlers in the area were quick to build a house of worship which originally stood across the street. The graveyard grew up around it. The cemetery is interesting in itself, containing some the earliest settlers in the region and many of the notable individuals who built the town. The graveyard reveals some of the hardships and tragedy of pioneer life, and life in the last century in general. A visitor will find whole families wiped out by disease, children killed by childhood sicknesses almost unknown today; young women taken far too soon in childbirth; young men felled in logging and farming accidents. On the other hand, the cemetery is a place of pride, for there lie the men and women who built the foundation of this Canada of ours. Here lies our heritage in the stones which tell of places far away; Ireland, Scotland, England.

Along with the church and graveyard, an equally important institution to the early settlers, the school, was located near this site. The first school building, constructed in 1831, gave way to a frame structure in 1840. Eventually a sturdy two storey brick building would serve as the school on this site. Ever since 1851, when a high school district was established here, the institution was known as “The Academy.” Along with the country doctor, the school teacher of those days is remembered with great respect. Teaching was first the preserve of relatively educated men, but it eventually became an occupation for young women. Severely underpaid, these women worked in conditions that would test most people today. They taught a multitude of children many grades, all within the same poorly heated room. Often they confronted students older and much larger than themselves. Somehow, they persevered and generations of young people were educated by these dedicated women.