Tiverton, Ontario

The name of a town in Devon, England. It is said that Norman McInnis and the other petitioners, when applying for a post-office, suggested the name "St. Andrews." This the Department would not agree to, there being another post-office of that name. Of several names offered "Tiverton" was chosen, it being the name of the borough for which Lord Palmerston, the English Prime Minister, sat in Parliament, and this no doubt had something to do with the choice made.

It was in the fall of 1850 that the primeval forest that covered the present site of Tiverton was entered by its first settler, Timothy Allan. The survey of the north part of Kincardine Township had just been completed, but that part of the township of Bruce in which Tiverton lies had not been commenced. For several years the work of clearing the bush went steadily on before the idea of a village at that spot was thought of. It was the fortune of the author, in the spring of 1857, to tramp along the "Boundary Line" from Inverhuron east to the fifteenth side-road, but he cannot recall of then seeing any evidence of the village that subsequently was developed.

It was, however, in the same year that Norman McInnis there opened a store, and it is probably the year which Tiverton may claim as that when it commenced to take form; but it was 1860 before it became known by the name it now bears, that is, when "Tiverton" was given as the name of the post-office then opened. The one store was the most suitable place for the office, so naturally the postmastership was given to Norman McInnis, of whom it may be said in passing, he, as much as anyone else, deserves the honor of being called the founder of the village.

He it was who opened the first store and also the first manufacturing industry of the place, which was a pot and pearl-ash factory, which he commenced to operate in September, 1860. The next industry added to this was a wool-carding mill run by A. McBain, which mill at a later date passed into the hands of James McLeod. About the end of the sixties a grist mill was added to the industries of the village, John McLeod being the miller. John Dewar, also, about the same time, opened a store, the second in Tiverton.

From this time, and for the next ten or twelve years Tiverton became somewhat of a market. The grain there purchased used to be delivered at one of the warehouses at Inverhuron; this business ceased with the burning of these warehouses in 1882, as they never were rebuilt. It was during these years the village attained to its highest notch as a business centre, and new industries were started, among which were a sawmill, a planing-mill and machine shop, but the largest and most prominent of them was John McDonald's tannery, which employed about twenty-five hands and had an output of about $20,000 worth of leather per annum.

Bruce Nuclear employs many who live in the general area

• Tiverton is near the site of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, the largest nuclear facility in North America in terms of output.
• Ontario's first commercial wind farm, called "Huron Wind" is also located near Tiverton in Inverhuron. The wind farm consists of 5 wind turbines.
• Tiverton was home to the Steelback Brewery, closed as of early 2010.
• Tiverton is located south of the Enbridge Wind Farm project that has recently been constructed between Tiverton and the Municipality's northern boundary. The project, has over 100 wind turbines erected.

Huron Wind near Tiverton

Local business are: Kwik-Way Variety store, The Kings Pearl Pub, 2 mechanic shops, a day care centre, Daisy Mart convenience store (which has since closed), an Esso gas station, an East Indian Restaurant, a motel, a couple of antiques stores, a fudge/taffy and giftware store- Crafts & Stuff Country Store, a pizza parlour - Patz Pizza and a Chinese restaurant- 21 Chopstix (opened in 2018). The town also has a public Library, an arena and sports facility grounds and a fire department.

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