Dashwood, Ontario

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Dashwood, Ontario

Coordinates: 43.343594° N 81.634169° W Dashwood (original name Friedsburg) is a small, primarily residential, community in southwestern Ontario,Canada. The former police village is located at the intersection of Bronson Line and Dashwood Road, on the boundary between the town of Bluewater and the town of South Huron. The community is situated approximately 50 kilometers north west of London near the resort village of Grand Bend, which is located on the south east coast of Lake Huron. Dashwood began when the brothers Noah and Absalom Fried of former Blenheim Township in Oxford County, acquired land on the site of the future village in all likelihood in the 1860's. They first erected a saw mill, followed shortly by a grain mill,serving the needs of the influx of mainly European settlers brought about by the local development of Canada Company lands earlier in the century. The location of the initial development of the mills was intended to occur at Sarepta, 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) east of the present site of Dashwood on Dashwood Road. Changing business circumstances brought about an alteration of the plans of the two brothers and lower cost land became available at the current site of the community. The name of the community changed from Friedsburg to Dashwood in December 1871, when a post office was opened, Noah Fried became the first postmaster. Peak economic activity occurred in Dashwood in the early to mid 20th century and at its height included a number of mills, hotels, general stores,a regionally large scale window manufacturing company and an assortment of shops and services geared to its rural surroundings. Its current population is about 400.