by Greg Hilton

Jarvis is situated at the Junction of Highways 3 and 6 in the south-west corner of Haldimand County on land originally deeded to William Jarvis, a secretary and registrar of Upper Canada.
With the building of the Plank Road from Port Dover to Hamilton in 1844, the point at which it crossed the Talbot Stagecoach route was recognized as an obvious place for a settlement. By 1850, the name Jarvis was adopted for a community with several thriving businesses and settlers.
On may 24th, 1873, while the men were at a political meeting in Simcoe, and the woman and children were enjoying an out-of-town Queen’s birthday picnic, a major fire destroyed about a quarter of the town. Fortunately, no lives were lost, and the old wooden buildings were quickly replaced by brick homes and businesses.

By 1900, the town boasted 4 churches, 4 hotels, 5 blacksmiths, a school, brickyard, cheese factories and more. For several years around 1912, harness racing took place on the Jones tract on Talbot St.

During World War 2, the Marshall Dairy produced much of the powdered milk shipped from Canada to Britain, and Bray Chicks Hatchery developed the process for dried egg powder, which, given the scarcity of fresh eggs, was a boon to British Families.

Throughout the 20th century, Jarvis continued to the agricultural service centre for Walpole and beyond.