The Founding of Port Elgin
Port Elgin's development began when, in 1854, Benjamin Shantz, one of Saugeen Township's early settlers, acquired from George Butchart a sawmill on Mill Creek. Nearby he built a grist-mill and within three years a community of 250 people had developed around these mills. Stores, hotels and tanneries were constructed and in March, 1857, a village plot named Port Elgin was laid out. The enterprise of its businessmen, notably Henry Hilker, Samuel Bricker and John Stafford, contributed to the development of the settlement, which had a population of over 600 by 1867. The arrival of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway in 1872 further stimulated the growth of the community and it was incorporated as a Village in 1874 with a population of about 950.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Ontario Plaques. Full page here.