History
The Town of Stonewall owes its start to Samuel Jacob Jackson. He founded the community in 1878.
Mr. Jackson was born in Ireland in 1848. As a young child he came to Canada and eventually settled in Ontario. In 1871, he was a member of a survey crew which came to the Rockwood area where he was to eventually make his home. Mr. Jackson was not only to become a prominent businessman and landowner in the area, but he also became a well-known and respected politician. He was Speaker of the House from 1891-1895 and was one of only a select few to be given the Speaker's Chair upon retirement. He was also elected to the House of Commons in 1904 and served as Selkirk M.P. until 1908.
He acquired the land where Stonewall is located in 1875. He moved to Stonewall in 1881.
He was an avid promoter of the community and would give building sites to people who promised to build a house to his specifications and plant trees. Many of the old trees planted along 2nd Ave North are the work of Mr. Jackson.
Local tradition has it that Mr. Jackson was given the nickname Stonewall for his affinity with the American confederate general of the same name. Mr. Jackson then decided to pass the name on to the Town.
Quarry operations began in 1882 when the Pot Kilns were created. The Pot Kilns were built by Enoch Williams & his brother. The Limestone Pot Kilns were lined with field stone inside to protect the rest of the structure from the heat and fire.
They did produce some stone from the quarry for buildings, but their main product was lime powder produced by baking limestone.
Originally the older pot kilns were used.
The draw kilns were built in 1904 they were much more efficient than the pot kilns.
Kinsmen Lake open in 1956 before the quarry closed.
The quarry closed because in 1967 they ran out of usable limestone. The limestone at the level deeper into the ground was rich in iron and was unusable for baking limestone. The quarry officially closed in 1968 it was in operation for 86 years.
After the closure of the quarry the town was considering what they could do with the area where the quarry was. They decided to revamp the area into a park. The Stonewall Quarry Park opened in 1985 and the original interpretive center was built.
The original interpretive center was built in 1985. Unfortunately, we lost the interpretive center to fire in 2007. This led to loss of nearly all of the artifacts in the center. Only a few small items were able to be salvaged form the fire. They are displayed near the entrance to the exhibit space.
The current Heritage Arts Center building was built in 2011.
