Top 3 Abandoned Places In Ajax And Pickering

There are so many abandoned places in Ajax And Pickering! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in Ajax And Pickering. Browse through all abandoned places in Ajax And Pickering

1. Altona (ghost town)

Altona is a ghost town located on the border between Uxbridge and Pickering Townships, in the old Ontario County. It was named after the town near Hamburg, Germany where many of Markham Township(a)s first settlers hailed from. Today, Altona is in the City of Pickering in Durham Region at Sideline 30. It is just east of Stouffville, Ontario. Its north section is in Uxbridge Township.

In 1852, the Altona Mennonite Church was erected. The building was constructed by pioneers who immigrated here from Pennsylvania in the early 1800(a)s. The bricks came from the Cherrywood brick yard. Local families included the Reesors, Widemans, Nighswanders, Hoovers and Stouffers. The first grave is dated 1835.

The 1st postmaster was J. Monkhouse in 1857. A photo of his farmstead on the west side of Altona is pictured below. He built the large grist mill just SE of the 4 corners below the mill pond. The Nighswanders built the woolen mill 1 km south of the hamlet on the west side of the road. It was converted into a cider mill that was popular throughout most of the 1900(a)s. It has been taken down in recent years, but the mill pond waterfall is still there.

In the 1800(a)s, along with the post office, grist and woolen mills there was a hotel at the main intersection(a)s NE side, built in 1858. It is located right on the Uxbridge/Pickering border. The site was used as an inn for 60 years and then as a grocery store and later in 1921 as an apartment building. A public hall existed on the NW side of the 4 corners.

Today, 2 churches, a school, 2 cemeteries, the general store/hotel, and homes remain; but more than half of the other buildings have been been boarded up by the federal government due to supposed plans to bring an airport to the area. This gives a very eerie feeling as you drive through from all four directions. As of 2010 they are being torn down one-by-one.

A web search reveals this from Ontario County records (1869):

A village in the township of Pickering, 20 miles north-west of Whitby. Population about 200.

Brown, A, hotelkeeper
Monkhouse, T., merchant
Cliff, E., carder, &c.
Mordon, G., laborer
Haggerman, L., pumpmaker, &c.
Neighswander, S., merchant miller
Hoover, J. G., laborer
Neighwander, M., farmer
Jones, A., farmer
Robertson, R., shoemaker
Key, M., carpenter
Skene, J., millright
MONKHOUSE, JOSEPH, Postmaster, &c.
Stouffer J., farmer
Wilson, J., blacksmith

2. Salem's Lot

In Pickering, Ontario, where Highway 7 meets Salem Road (right between Greenwood and Kinsale) there used to be a small corners known as Salem(a)s Corners. The origin of the name "Salem" dates back to the 1800(a)s.

Salem(a)s Corners was a small farming community. A cemetery was established in 1831. Check this link to see the cemetery(a)s location: http://www.ogs.on.ca/durham/cemeteries/pickmap.htm.

A school was established in approximately 1844. It has been speculated that mills may have operated in the area along Duffin(a)s and Carruther(a)s Creeks. A brick kiln did exist by the creek as evidenced by the 1878 Beers Map. Check this old map link to see its location: http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/images/maps/townshipmaps/ont-m-Pickering.jpg . However, by 1878 there were no mills in this area from here southward.

Since the 1990(a)s, people have reported seeing mists and hearing laughing, screaming or growling sounds in an area well south of Salem(a)s Corners in what has now become known as "Salem(a)s Lot". You may read one such story about Salem(a)s Lot here: http://www.wirenot.net/X/Stories/Ghost/Ghost_C-D/Canada.shtml
(The growling noises came from dogs at the autowreckers that existed just west of here).

The location given here is well south of Salem(a)s Corners (part of the City of Pickering) and is actually in the Town of Ajax, between Rossland Rd. and Taunton Rd., just east of Salem Rd. Click the map link below to see its location. It is actually much closer to the former village of Audley (which existed at the corner of Taunton Rd. and Audley Rd.).

At Salem(a)s Lot you can find the remains of a dam, the old bridge and a stone foundation with a decaying chimney still intact. The bridge was actually an old bridge that was part of Sideline 4, which at one time started at Rossland Rd. (formerly Concession 3) and headed northward over Carruthers Creek in the 1800(a)s. By checking out the 1878 Beldon Map of the area you can see where the bridge crosses one concession SW of Audley. Here is the map link: http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/images/maps/townshipmaps/ont-m-Pickering.jpg

Housing development has now taken over the area, though there were only ever 2 or 3 farmsteads from the 1800(a)s in the general area.

The name "Salem(a)s Lot" simply originates from both the 1970(a)s novel and film of the same name, and from its close proximity to Salem Rd. With a name like that it is no wonder folklore stories have arisen.

I have added a bunch of new photos (Oct. 2009) of Salem(a)s Lot(a)s remains at the next link called "Salem(a)s Lot: Halloween 2009"- so check them out!!

For online history go to: http://www.pada.ca/books/details/?id=215

With such a name it is not surprising the site has become a noted source of outlandish ghost stories and modern folklore in Ajax, Ontario.

An old dam/bridge used to cross Carruther(a)s Creek here. Sideline 4 once ran northwards from Concession 3 (today(a)s Rossland Rd.). Here is the 1878 Beldon Map that shows the area in question: http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/images/maps/townshipmaps/ont-m-Pickering.jpg
Look one concession SW of the village of Audley.

The dam(a)s remains still exist in the bush by the creek here. Nothing ghostly, just history ignored by the modern world. There are also remains of an old home(a)s foundations and chimney in the forest just north of where the bridge once crossed on I.B. Carpenter(a)s property. These were all built in the 1900s. The old road is still there but overgrown in the valley. It is now a trail where kids apparently like to party- I found a lot of beer caps around. I also found other very old goodies (including the dam) so check the new photos- just in time for Halloween too..

IB Carpenter coincidentally also owned property at the ghost town of Howell(a)s Hollow to the north..Howell(a)s Hollow has its own write-up under "Pickering".

For online history of Ajax and Pickering go to: http://www.pada.ca/books/details/?id=215

According to rampetbunny, whose family owned this property in the 1980(a)s:

"we made a stone pad for the chimney/BBQ in the 1980s . there is a old rock quarry on the north west side , there was a upper pond that was feed from the north east side by the CN tracks , the over flow would run down to the dam where the farmers would fill big water tanks to water crops or cows in the dry summers , there were 5 places on there at one point , 1 was a 2 room house ie you just came in off the road about 20 so yards . then a lil one just about 5 yards on the west side of the dam . 1 big hunter(a)s cabin 15 yards up in the east side of the dam . on the north west side of the dam was a 3 room house , then the well was between my grandmothers 2 room lil place."

The silly Salem(a)s Lot stories began circulating sometime after the 1980s when the area became abandoned. As for the story of the ghostly dogs barking: well there used to be an autowreckers just west of Salem(a)s Lot.

3. Valley Farm- J. Palmer Home

Palmer house - valley farm

Thanks to "Nobody"s request in the forum for this one:

"There is an abandoned and derelict location in Pickering I go to often throughout the year and I cannot find any information on it, and would love to know what it is! It is located in the Valley Farm Ravine on Valley Farm Road at Greenmount Street, Pickering. You can see the outline of the foundation on Google maps, in the grass directly parallel to Greenmount Street in between Valley Farm Road and the river that runs through the land. It would be a very muddy hike down the large hill and through the field at this time of year, but in the summer the grass grows about waist high and it is quite hot and buggy - so now may be a good time to visit. The whole area is beautiful in the summer though, with the river, fields, and forests. Please email me and let me know if you can find any information on this lot and its previous inhabitants! Thank you."

The ruins are the remains of one of the buildings of the farmstead that once belonged to James L. Palmer. James was a farmer and lumber manufacturer who settled in the area in 1837. By 1877 he owned concession II, lots 20 and 21 in Pickering township. He must have been quite wealthy as a drawing of the farmstead is featured in the Canadian County Atlas, a spread that one had to pay for to have included in the Atlases.

I have included an aerial photo of the location from 1993 - you can still the red roof on the barn. The structure that is still partially standing is the barn.

This farmstead, as the adjoining one to the west, are the two properties that have given the road its name - Valley Farm. What is not apparent in the photo is that the farm is located deep in a valley .. the entry point of the laneway is much farther south. The adjoining property will be the subject of a further post. ;)

I will continue to add more info as I come across it. Thanks for your query, Nobody! ;)