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268-Acre Model Farm of ' 1890's Sold
Two Tillsonburg businessmen have purchased the famed Annandale farm for
disclosed price. The 268-acre property will be used for building lots and t
growing. Included in the purchase is the large barn, above, one of the largest in
County. See More abcu/ Th : 6—
illsonbu
b TILLSONBURG, May 15 — Two
hundred and sixty-eight acres of
u land, a portion of the 600-acre
a tract of crown property purchased
1l in 1825 by George Tillson, the
founder of Tillsonburg, has been
sold in what is believed to be the
biggest land transaction here.
Y Known as the Annandale Farm,
the land has been in the Tillson
family for 127 years. Two busi-
nessmen, Charles W. Thomas, Jr.
and Cyril Demeyre are the buyers.
y A portion of it is slated for sub-
dividing for building lots, and the
r4 balance will grow tobacco.
The purchase price was not dis-
closed. The original price was
$1 per acre. About 1900, the farm
provided agricultural writers with
much material. Through the years
it was carefully developed and in
the late 1800's was being publi-
cized as a model farm, its prac-
tices being as advanced as the
Government demonstration farms.
The farm was an unique family
memorial. The buildings are of a
I quality and permanence of con.
,1 strudtion seldom equalled.
II v II
Annandale
The great barn, built of brick
with walls in places more than a
foot thick, still looks solid as a
fortress.
It is L-shaped and about 120
feet on the long side and 100 on
the other and is more than 60
feet in height. Ventilators with
brick exhaust stacks line the front
end, giving it the appearance of a
modern factory.
The interior is partitioned with
timbers from the virgin forest,
straight, huge and nearly flawless.
Partitions are of matched boards
many of them more handsome in
appearance than those going into
modern dwellings. Inside are the
huge rectangular built-in silos
holding an enormous quantity of
feed and said to have been the
first large-scale silos. A.Ontario.
The ground fl00%#W&h airy
ceilings and an d con-
duit reaches thro - 'Olds to
the piggery, anotht of brick
buildings elmilat• ins * and qual-
ity to the barn. The conduit sup-
plied the piggery with by-products
of the dairy.
have been piped end once supplied
all the community water. The
layout of the old Tillson farm is
one of Western Ontario's agricul-
tural spectacles and a source of
community pride.
Sought Iron
In 1825, George Tillson and Ben.
jamin Van Norman were connected
with the pioneer bog iron smelting
industry in Normandale. They
came to Tillsonburg in search of
another deposit of iron ore they
believed was located in Dereham
Township.
A furnace was established here
for iron ore processing and the
town was originally .pp
Dereham forge. CouY, s
Tillson name In earip
ments were those of C '}atfr
prominent in the P r.. of
Paris, and Elijah Led 'later
active in Iron manufacturing in
London.