Online Mini-Exhibits

A tour of the Bayfield Cemetery (35102 Mill Rd, Bayfield, ON) reveals much about our local history. The cemetery was established in December 1861 when John Esson, the Stanley Township Clerk, bought an acre of land from Andrew Bronson. Bronson purchased the first burial plot for $3. The land was then divided into shares, with the first 10 purchased by James Gairdner, Andrew Rutledge, Thomas H. Bateman, William H. Hall, William W. Connor, William Bengough, James Thompson & Co., and George Erwin, the village’s undertaker. 

Information about the cemetery originates from the Corporation of the Village of Bayfield History, 1876-1985, by the Bayfield Historical Society. 

 The following cemetery records are available at our Archives & Heritage Centre: 

•     Bayfield Public Cemetery  

•     Baird’s Cemetery  

•     Bayfield Memorial Cemetery 

•     Varna United Cemetery 

•     Varna Memorial Cemetery

The majority of headstones are photographed and their inscriptions entered into Find-a-Grave.

In 1836, Baron von Tuyll, a Dutch nobleman responsible for the establishment of Bayfield, donated two lots to the village to build a school. The first school was made of cedar logs and was built on Bayfield Terrace (lots 12 and 13). The school was known as “The Hut,” and is today a residence, the oldest building in Bayfield. (Information about “The Hut” was provided by Lucy Diehl.)

As the population grew, two more lots (236 and 237) were donated to the village for a brick schoolhouse built in 1862.

A new public school opened in 1955. Although children started attending classes on November 14. the official opening did not take place until May 30, 1956.   

In 1967, a larger and more central school, Huron Centennial Public School, was built outside Brucefield.

Union School Section No.1 – Hay & Stanley
S.S. No. 1, Stanley – Baird's
S.S. No. 3, Stanley – Front Road School
S.S. No. 4, Stanley
S.S. No. 5, Stanley
S.S. No. 6, Stanley – Varna School
S.S. No. 7, Stanley
Union School Section No. 9 – Blake
S.S. No. 10, Stanley
S.S. No. 13, Babylon Line
S.S. No. 14, Stanley
R.C. Separate School, Stanley
Lakeview Christian School

Information come from the following books: Corporation of The Village of Bayfield History 1876-1985 by the Bayfield Historical Society and Township of Stanley History 1836-1986 by the Stanley History Committee.