submitted to EFP
Recently, members of the Kingsville Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee delivered and installed a plaque indicating Heritage Designation, under the Ontario Heritage Act, to the first property to be designated in Cottam.
The house is located on County Road 14 in Cottam and has been designated the Christopher Dresser House. It was built in 1909.
“The Christopher Dresser House is the first Cottam property to receive Heritage Designation under the Ontario Heritage Act. We hope it is the first of more to come. Cottam has many culturally significant homes that tell the story of this community’s history,” Kingsville Councillor Kim DeYong stated, who is also the Committee’s Vice-Chairperson.
According to a report submitted to Kingsville Council on the matter, the ownership of this property dates to 1846 and is associated with the Canada Company, which was incorporated by Charter in the reign of George IV to appropriate lands in Upper and later Lower Canada to those people who represented the King. These lands were known as Crown Lands.
Records show that the settlement process began in 1895 when James Scarlett, under the auspices of the Canada Company, began to clear the land. In December of 1906, Scarlett had cleared 25 Acres of the original 150. A small building was built, it notes in the report.
On January 8, 1907, the Canada Company granted the 50 Acres to Scarlett and in 1908 he sold the land to his brother, Charles. A year later, the land was sold to Ezra Everett Thomas and in January 1912, a deed was registered from Ezra Thomas to Darius Cowan. The following year, Darius Cowan sold the property to Christopher Dresser. From that time until the 1980s the property remained in the Dresser family.
Anyone with questions on the process of seeking heritage designation can reach out to the Town Planner, Kristina Brcic at kbrcic@kingsville.ca.