By Staff
April 17th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Heritage properties and the designation of homes was a major issue for Council earlier this week.
Helen Callaway, co chair of Kilbride United Church Board of Directors and the chair of the Kilbride history group, appeared before Council saying: “I really want to thank you for this opportunity to speak to the heritage designation of Kilbride United Church. We’re thrilled to have that designation so that the church remains in the community forever.
Kilbride United Church as it stands today – Council decided that the Church would be designated as a heritage property.
“However, we’re going to ask that the addition of what we believe is the Davidson church not be included in that designation.
“There are a few errors in the report that you received, and I’ll speak to some of them, but first, I’m going to give you just a wee bit of history. In 1853 William Paten and Francis Baker, Irish immigrants who saw the potential of what is now Kilbride.
Helen Callaway, co chair of Kilbride United Church Board of Directors and the chair of the Kilbride history group.
“The new immigrants to the community brought a really strong religious belief with them. In 1854 the Cumminsville Bible Society was established, and members went from location to location. Originally, those meetings were held in the Temperance halls of Cumminsville and Lowville. In case you don’t know, Cumminsville is at the corner of Cedar Springs Road and McNiven Road.
“George and Rhoda Harbottle sold the land for $5 of lawful money. It was not donated, as was stated in the original report, according to the indenture. The chapel, or meeting house, is referred to as the Canadian Wesleyan Methodist New Connection chapel of Nelson Township. It wasn’t called a church, and the name Zion, we’re not sure when that was adopted to the church.
“In 1878 the decision was made to move the church to the present location on the corner of Kilbride Street and Jean street. It really would have been a sight to see to bring that original church on skids, pulled by oxen down the hill to the stream back up again, and then placed in its original location, sometime after that.
“Around 1881 Davidson church on Appleby line and fourth line, just south of Britannia Road, was closed. The congregation did not merge with Kilbride because of the distance.
“All we know is that Davidson church was moved sometime after 1881 and before 1912. It’s very unfortunate that all of the Davidson records have been thrown out decades ago, the ladies of the church had a wonderful clean. They didn’t realize the value of the old books that they threw out.
“The Davidson church section has been renovated a number of times as well, and we feel that a lot of the historical elements have gone except perhaps the shell and the windows. It now houses a kitchen, meeting rooms and our gas furnaces. We no longer have written proof that this is Davidson church. It is only in our oral history, and it’s our strong recommendation that this portion of the current church should not be considered for Heritage designation.
“In times of community troubles and emergency, the congregation has come together to help. In 1967, the ladies of the church, gathered to provide food and refreshments for the searchers of Mary Ann, she was abducted on her way home from school and has never been found.
“The church bell is going to ring on April 27 at four o’clock in her memory.
Inside the Kilbride United Church
“Today, the congregation of Kilbride United Church is at a crossroads, and we have to consider our future. We have an aging, declining membership and dwindling donations. Unfortunately, this is true of many of the churches today. However, we’re fervently looking for many options to keep the doors open, including some upcoming talks with the church in Hamilton that has turned its future around. We remain extremely hopeful. However, we have to be realists. We cannot, if we cannot turn the financial future into a positive one, we have to consider putting the church up for sale. There’s no question that we want the original 1860 structure to have a heritage designation. That perpendicular piece, the Davidson church, is a deterrent to selling. A buyer would have limited options as to what they could do with it.
Many times old historic buildings have been repurposed as businesses, stores and even homes, and we would hope that the church would at least remain as an event space for the community, or, like Bethel, have yearly service and weddings and funerals, if and only if that’s a very big if the church needs to be closed, we would love to see it maybe as a museum showcasing the settlement of North Nelson.
“Kilbride has a really rich history. The congregation of Kilbride United Church hopes that you will consider a historic designation for the original church structure only unfortunately, the Davidson church portion, in our opinion, has lost its history and value over the years. We don’t know what the future is going to be for the church, but we are working very hard at keeping the doors open and having the church both for our spiritual needs and for community events.”
Council decided that the church would be designated.
