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Ghost Towns of Bruce County – The rise and fall of Little Egypt

July 2020

Ghost towns are; “a once flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource,” as defined by Webster’s Dictionary.

The Bruce County community of Egypt, sometimes referred to as Little Egypt, is an oddity in that it was never really an actual “town,” but simply a cluster of farms along Sideroad 20, or what came to be known as Egypt Sideroad.

Some of the farmers in Egypt owned the land they farmed, while others were tenant farmers. One of the largest landowners in Egypt was Robert Baird, a wealthy businessman who owned three parcels of land and rented them out. He chose to live in nearby Kincardine.

There were no businesses, a downtown core, or anything else that usually defines a typical town. Egypt did have a one-room schoolhouse, but this was an era when schoolhouses were typically located every mile or two, or at nearly every second crossroad. to serve farm kids who typically couldn’t travel very far. It had nothing to do with the placement of towns or villages.

Whatever Egypt once was, there is little to think that this was ever considered a community, whether you call it a town, village or hamlet. It’s a pretty desolate and forlorn sort of place, lying on the edge of the Greenock swamp.

An abandoned log cabin once stood beside the road where it makes a sharp turn to the east, along what is the townline between Greenock and Culross Townships. It’s now collapsed in on itself.

Sources: https://www.ghosttownpix.com/ontario/intros/egypt.html, https://www.ghosttownpix.com/ontario/intros/egypt.html.

About the author

Bruce Forsyth

Bruce Forsyth served in the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve for 13 years (1987-2000). He served with units in Toronto, Hamilton & Windsor and worked or trained at CFB Esquimalt, CFB Halifax, CFB Petawawa, CFB Kingston, CFB Toronto, Camp Borden, The Burwash Training Area and LFCA Training Centre Meaford.

Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/ghost-towns-of-bruce-county-the-rise-and-fall-of-little-egypt/

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