Dartmoor (forgotten hamlet)

Dartmoor has vanished from modern mapbooks, but at one time was a post office, pioneer community with a schoolhouse (still standing) and Presbyterian church. Some of the old barns remain as well as an original log cabin/farmstead. It is located on the Monck Colonization Rd. at Lake Dalrymple Rd. in the former Township of Dalton.

The Township of Dalton is a former municipality located in the northwest corner of the former County of Victoria (now the City of Kawartha Lakes). It was named after Dr. John Dalton (1766-1844), an English scientist who had a lot to do with the beginnings of atomic theory.

Dalton Twp. has an extensive history in logging and colonization along the Old Monck Colonization Road. Villages in the Township include old logging/farming communities from the 1800s. These include: Sadowa, Sebright, Uphill (also on Monck Rd.), Ragged Rapids (ghost town) and of course, Dartmoor. All had been rural post offices. Settlers included the Thompsons, Gardiners, and Montgomery(a)s, who were mainly of Scottish/Irish Presbyterian backgrounds.

Back then, one of the most picturesque figures of the municipal history of the township was Joseph Thompson who was reeve for a quarter of a century. Thompson was a great hunter and many legends had been handed down concerning his prowess in the wilderness.

Dartmoor(a)s last postmaster was J. Johnson in 1911. Rural route mail delivery came soon afterwards.