page_title: Flesherton
section_title: Twentieth century
hierarchical_section_title: Flesherton / Twentieth century
caption_attribution_description: English: In December 1910, the Sproule Block of businesses, located on the north-east corner of Sydenham Road and Durham Road in Flesherton, Ontario, Canada, burned to the ground due to unknown causes. A quarter of the hamlet's businesses were destroyed in the fire.
context_page_description: Flesherton is a community in the Municipality of Grey Highlands, in Grey County, Ontario, Canada, located at the junction of Highway 10 and Grey County Road 4. Although the area initially showed a high rate of growth in the 1850s and its founder believed that it would become an important centre of economic activity, growth stagnated when an all-important rail link bypassed it, and the community never grew larger than a small village. The self-proclaimed "Gateway to the Beaver Valley" recently lost its autonomy as a village when it was amalgamated with the surrounding Artemesia Township.
context_section_description: At the turn of the 20th century, the Munshaw Hotel continued to serve alcohol despite the increasingly popular temperance movement, but local teetotalling businessmen raised funds in 1908 to build a hotel called Park House as a "dry" alternative. The hotel remained in business until the 1950s, and is now a private residence.
  In 1910, the Artemesia Rural High School was built in Flesherton; students either rode from their farms to attend classes or boarded at Park House. That same year, a block of businesses on the north-east corner of the hamlet's main intersection, known as the T.J. Sproule Block, burned down due to unknown causes, destroying a quarter of the local businesses.
  In 1912, five years after the death of William Flesher in 1907, Flesherton was incorporated as a village. The following year, the coming of the automobile resulted in Flesherton's first gas station, attached to a hardware store.
  Two years later, in 1914, World War I broke out in Europe. Eighty-four local men enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, a significant percentage of the small village's population. Several were decorated for bravery, and 19 volunteers—almost 1 in 4—were killed.  In 1920, the children of William Flesher donated land beside the Boyne River, close to the site of Flesher's original grist mill, for a Memorial Park. A cenotaph was erected, with the names of those who had died on the front, and those who had survived on the back.
  In 1917, the first airplane landed in Flesherton, piloted by Alf Witten of Camp Borden.
  In 1920, the Toronto-Sydenham Road that ran through Flesherton was assumed by the province and became King's Highway 10.
  Likewise in the 1930s, the Durham Road as far as the centre of Flesherton was assumed by the province as the easternmost extension of King's Highway 4.  (In the 1970s, Highway 4 was extended from the centre of Flesherton eastward a further 12 km (5 mi) to the village of Singhampton. However, in 1998, the provincial government under Mike Harris downloaded most of Highway 4 back onto municipal governments, the result being that Highway 4 is now known as Grey Road 4 as it passes through Flesherton.)
  In 1921, Agnes Macphail, who had been born in nearby Proton Township, was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the Progressive Party of Canada for the Grey Southeast riding in the 1921 federal election. She was the first female MP in Canada. Macphail was re-elected in 1925, 1926, and 1930.
  In 1925, the United Church of Canada was formed from an amalgamation of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches, and the following year, the Methodist church in Flesherton joined with Chalmers Presbyterian to form St. John's United Church. The combined congregations chose to retain the highly visible Methodist building, and sold the much smaller Presbyterian building.
  Fire continued to be a major threat to the village. In 1926, the original horse barn attached to the Munshaw Hotel burned down. The following year, a fire that started in a grocery store destroyed an entire block of homes and businesses.
  In 1931, during resurfacing of Highway 10, the existence of a large sinkhole just south of the village was revealed when a load of gravel caused a 30-metre (100-ft) section the highway to sink more than 3 metres (10 feet). Although filled in and paved over, this section of the highway continues to slowly sink and requires a new patch of asphalt every few years as the old asphalt is pulled apart.
  In 1939, enlistment at the start of the Second World War was again popular with local men; the names of the seven men who did not return were added to the cenotaph following the war.
  In 1949, a fire and explosion at a gas station destroyed or damaged several businesses.
  In 1952, the decision was made to expand the 40-year-old high school. However, during construction, a fire started in the older part of the structure, destroying it although sparing the new construction. The new extension continued to serve as the local high school.
  In 1968, Grey Highlands Secondary School was built in Flesherton to ser
caption: Smoking ruins of the Sproule Block.
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