Millbridge (ghost town)

Millbridge (originally named "The Jordan") began as a small community along the Hastings Colonization Road. It(a)s location next to the Jordan River made it ideal for a mill operations town. It all began when a pioneer named Captain Ralph Norman constructed a trading post and mill nearby a bridge.

Millbridge grew to include three hotels, a store, grist and saw mills, schoolhouse, St. Oswald(a)s Anglican Church, and a community hall.

One of the hotels was given the nickname of "Cupids" for it was here that young girls were often picked up by young men. (Brown, Ron. 1997. Ghost Towns of Ontario. V1)

As with many of the towns along the colonization road, the farmers fled the land once the trees had been cleared and the difficulty of the farmland fully realized. By 1925 the area was almost completely abandoned.

Millbridge Station

Five kilometres to the east of Millbridge stood Millbridge Station. The station was a small village built
around 1900 to accomodate the Central Ontario Railway (COR). The village contained a station, store and workers cabins. The village also contained the magnificant red brick Hogan(a)s Hotel. The hotel was built in 1862. Today visitors can only visualize a time when visitors departing the train would stay overnight at the hotel.

Dennis Hogan opened the first post office (most likely from his hotel) and continued to operate it up until his death in 1908. The post office would be reopened in 1925 by Miss Ella Hogan until 1940. The village was eventually named Hogan.

Today the hotel is a private residence. Foundations from the station can still be found.

Directions: Take Hwy. 62 north from Madoc about 21 km to the Millbridge Road and turn west. Millbridge Station is on the other side of highway 62 about 2km east on the Stoney Settlement Road.

Heading north up the old Hastings Road from Millbridge you will drive through 5 other ghost towns before the road reaches Hwy 62 again. These are (from south to north): Glanmire, Murphy Corners, Thanet, Ormsby and Umfraville. All of them have write-ups and photos under "Hastings Colonization Road".