Community Histories
Elmsdale & area (2006)
Elmsdale & area (2006)
Title: Goin’ to the Corner: A History of Elmsdale, Elmsdale West and Brockton, Volume One - The Community
Author(s): Margaret Adams, Lillian Adams, Allan Graham, Norma McLellan, Arlene Morrison, Jean O’Brien, Kay Williams, Susan Murphy
Publisher: Elmsdale and Area Historical Society, Elmsdale, P.E.I. & Crescent Isle Publishers, Summerside, P.E.I.: 2006
Description: Large octavo. 624pp. Illustrated. Softcover. From the Preface: “(T)he Elmsdale and Area Historical Society hope that you will enjoy reading the 600 pages of facts gleaned from the Summerside Journal, the Pioneer, the Journal-Pioneer, the Island Farmer, the Agriculturist, the Island Guardian, and the Charlottetown Herald. It took three years of long days for the committee to read these newspapers on microfilm.” At the time of publication, a Volume Two dealing with the families who lived in Elmsdale, Elmsdale West, and Brockton between 1837 and 2006 was being written. The book shows minor edge-wear. Contents clean. Overall, we rate the condition good.
Elmsdale is an unincorporated area in West Prince, P.E.I., northwest of Alberton. Its precise location is N 46°49', W 64°08'. The community started when the Great Western Road and Dock Road were formed. The surveying of the farms along the Dock Rd. began in 1841. When it crossed the Great Western Road creating a crossroads, James Reid owned the land where the Nazarene Church parking lot is today. The community that quickly formed at this crossroads was called Reid's Corner. In 1865, John Adams and his family moved and settled on the same corner. Reid died in 1866. Until 1872, the community was called Adams' Corner, but sometimes people still referred to it as Reid's Corner. When the railway was surveyed through Lot 4, the community was referred to as Reid's or Adams' Corner. Since the station was near the Dock Road intersection, it was called the Dock Road Station between 1872 and 1875. The residents were not satisfied with that name and met to change it. The name Elmsdale was first used in 1868, but did not become the only one until 1875. Up the Dock Road two other communities were formed, Elmsdale West and Brockton. Elmsdale West has always been, and continues to be, an agricultural settlement. Brockton was formed at the intersection of the Trainor Road and the Dock Road, and was first called Dock Road Settlement.