Part of History

I brought my Vanishing Villages of Elgin book to my friend Ashley's tonight. I wanted to show her the section about the area she lives in- Rodney, formerly known as Churchville because the main intersection held three churches and one tavern. The settlers of Churchville were Schneckenburgers, the surname of her boyfriend! As she was making dinner I was reading to her about the settlement of the area, creating the local church and cemetery (which I blogged about last year). As I was reading about the tavern/hotel used by travelers I looked at the picture at the top of the page.

"Wait a minute," I said, "is this your house?!?"

Ashley came over and sure enough, the house we were sitting in is the former hotel! We were so shocked! After talking to Ben, he told us about a marking in the basement.It's 1922 date is much later than the original construction of house which began in 1872 when Joseph Schneckenburger built a boarding house near the local sawmill for mill employees. By 1874, the structure had become a tavern and was a stagecoach stop along the line from Iona to Duart in Kent County. Now the structure hosts glee nights every Tuesday!