The Stevensville Apple Orchard

One of the things I’ve always found interesting is how various stretches of land in the Stevensville area have been used, developed, and re-organized over the years, and especially since my childhood. From my pre-1970 perspective these areas include:
The Creek (Black Creek)
The Grove (which is now known as the “United Empire Loyalist Park”)
The area west of Ott Road (now the site of the Fort Erie Conservation Club)
The fields north of the creek (between the creek and the tracks. We knew this as “the vineyards”)
The area at the extreme east end of town where the Paul Hendershot orchard must have been.
And others…

This photo was (presumably) taken on the front porch of the Paul Horton Hendershot farm house.
Frank and Laura are standing. Paul and Sarah are seated. The little boy is Hubert, and the girl is Gladys Robb, niece of Frank and Laura.

Here’s an interesting note about the Paul Horton Hendershot apple orchard. Paul Horton Hendershot, who was the father of Fred and Frank (and my great grandfather) had a farm in the east end of Stevensville, with 1500 apple trees. Since beginning this project I’ve been curious about where this orchard was situated.

This is my comment made to ChatGPT to get a conversation going:

“…there was a house in the east end of town that my Grade 1 and 2 teacher lived in. Her name was Jennie Beatson. Around the back of the house there were some stairs leading up to the roof and a door to an apartment on the 2nd floor. I used to deliver the Toronto Star to that apartment. It was where Mr. Marchand (I think) lived. He was a teacher somewhere in town.

After reading in various places about the Paul Horton Hendershot farm I wondered where this farm could have been located, because I was familiar with that area, at the extreme east end of town. It was past the school and Hubert’s development. And it was before you got to the “dump” – the old, now ploughed-over town refuse area.

There was just nowhere in that spot (or so I thought) that you could fit a sizeable farm.. And then I found the article about Jennie Beatson where it says “In 1940 the couple (Jennie and her husband) bought the Frank Hendershot home on East Man Street.” I take this to mean that Frank was by then the owner of the farm (or at least the house). In 1940 Frank would have been 74 and wanted to move close to Hubert (I have to check this out.)

This means that the Beatson house was the Hendershot farm house.”

Leave a comment if you have any info.