St Paul's Anglican Church, Washago

DONATION

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Box 362, Orillia, ON L3V 6J8

ST. PAUL's ANGLICAN CHURCH, WASHAGO

Long before European settlers came to this area, there were people living here. This area was the northern outpost of the Huron Indians before they were wiped out by the Iroquois in 1649. From 1640 to 1650 this area is believed to be the site of St. Elizabeth’s Mission of the Jesuits.

Until 1750, this was Iroquois hunting ground and later Ojibways occupied it and called it Washagomin which means clear sparkling waters.

In 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe passed this way on a tour of discovery, making maps and sketches of the area. The large lake several kilometres to the south carries his name.

1800s

In the early 1800s, Mr. Quetton St. George bought 10,000 acres. Around 1810, he built a trading post in Washago. Lake St. George is named for him and Quetton Street (where our church building stands) was also named for him.

In 1853, Henri St. George (Quetton’s son) received a land grant from the Crown called Orillia Island, on which Washago stands. This grant was on condition that he would build a grist mill, lumber mill and shingle mill. From the grant, settlers were able to purchase lots for building and development.

From 1872 to 1874, settlement was speeded up due to the coming of the railway. Many families in the village today came here in this period. A weekly local newspaper was published. There were both taverns and an active temperance society. A social highlight was to go to the station to watch the train arriving.

Also in 1872, plans were made to establish a Church of England in Washago, but the building was not erected then. During this period it was a mission church of St. James’, Orillia. In the 1870s and 1880s, Washago Anglicans worshipped with Lake St. George Anglicans in St. Mark’s Orillia North, also known as the Little White Church, located at the site of the present cemetery at Concession 13 and old Highway 11. When this building was demolished, members worshipped in the Washago Temperance Hall and later used the Methodist Church as well as gathering in members’ homes.

1900s + Onward

In 1905, the estate of Sir Casimir Gzowski donated a plot of land on which to build a church, and by April 1909 the structure was completed. It is located at the junction of Highway 169 South and Quetton Street, about a stone’s throw from the railway station. In the early 1950s a spacious rectory was erected next door. In 1959, the present parish hall was completed and it serves as a meeting place and Sunday school space as well as for coffee hour after services and special meals and other events throughout the year.

For many of these years the incumbent at St. Paul’s also had responsibility for other churches that eventually became part of a multi-point parish. These are St. George’s, Cooper’s Falls (closed in 2009), St. Luke’s, Hamlet (closed in 1997) and the Church of the Good Samaritan, Pt. Stanton (open summers only).

More recently, the parish has been reconfigured as the parish of Washago-Price’s Corners and includes St. Luke’s, Price’s Corners as well as the Church of the Good Samaritan. In 2014, the parish was linked with the parish of Coldwater-Medonte to form the Huronia Cluster Ministry.

As of October 1, 2017, St. Paul’s remains part of the parish of Washago-Price’s Corners and no longer officially yoked with the parish of Coldwater-Medonte.