Jennifer Smith

When my husband and I first moved to Milton back in 1994, my Uncle Bill sent us a letter. He had been a teacher and vice-principal at Milton District High School back in the '60s and '70s, and he wanted to welcome us to his former home by telling us about a few of his favourite things about this town. Things like the farmers' market, the Mill Pond, and antiques auctions at the Fairgrounds. He even bought us a subscription to an auction newsletter.

I came to love Milton as much as he had and so, in that spirit, I would like to welcome those of you who may be new to this town with my own list of the unique, the iconic, and the obscure. Even if you've lived here for years, you might find a few on this list that you didn't know about or hadn't visited in a while.



This gem in the heart of town has something for everyone: trails, forests, fishing, a lovely view from the gazebo, even summer concerts. You can spend hours exploring the network of trails that wind up one side and down the other, all the way up to the spot where the creek was first diverted to form the pond over 150 years ago. What it really needs - and what it has always historically had - is boating. How lovely would it be to rent a paddle boat or a canoe and take it out on the pond on a warm summer evening?




Believe it or not, Waldie's was actually a functioning blacksmith shop from the very founding of our town right up until the 1970s. After a few decades of closure and neglect, it was resurrected and re-built and now serves as not only a working blacksmith shop and teaching centre, but also the home of the Milton Historical Society and Archives. Go in and check it out. And say hi to Marsha Waldie - she lives right next door.




This is my favourite street in Milton. Not just because it has some of the most beautiful historic homes in town, or because it's just around the corner from my house. I love it because it contains, in just a few short blocks, a perfect example of the kind of architectural and social diversity that I consider to be the best part of downtown Milton. Huge old Victorian homes stand side by side with narrow brick duplexes, clapboard homes of varying quality, a modern bungalow, a small apartment house, a row of shops, and even the Legion Hall. Jane Jacobs would have loved it.




For lovers of Victorian architecture, welcome to paradise. Except for their slightly newer westermost blocks, you'd be hard put to find a single building on these streets that is less than a century old. Each one has been painstakingly restored and maintained by its owner, to the point where you half expect one of them to come out their front door with a bustle dress and a parasol. And just in case you find the common Queen Anne, Italianate and Gothic Revival styles a little dull, this part of Milton also has one of the largest collections of Regency Cottage-style houses in all of Ontario.




Much more than a bakery, this family owned and operated store has a fantastic Italian deli counter, daily hot lunches, a wide variety of groceries, frozen goods, and an outstanding produce section with more local fruits and vegetables than you'll ever see at the big chains. Plus of course a huge selection of breads and pastries, baked right on site. You can even get milk and eggs from local producers there! Now if only they could be convinced to open a location on Main Street...

Photo by Ivan Sorensen

The importance of the Escarpment for Milton cannot be overstated. Our town was literally built from it, from the stones and brick and cement that make up our original homes to the gravel under our roads. It affects our weather. It is dissolved in our water. It reveals itself unexpectedly along roads and around corners and takes our breath away. People complain about all the restrictions imposed on its lands, but to me this seems like entirely the wrong attitude. We have a unique natural treasure here that could benefit our town far more than it does in terms of tourism - we just need to start looking at it as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. And stop digging bloody great holes in it.




When developers start work on a new subdivision these days, the very first thing they do is raze the land completely flat. That's unfortunate. Not only does it disrupt the natural contours and cause enormous drainage problems, it also removes the opportunity for impromptu activities such as tobogganing. Which is why spots like Sixteen Mile Creek around Commercial and Laurier are starting to attract kids from all over town. Sure, parking is a problem (can we please move parking from the west side of Commercial to the east side?), and injuries do happen (my husband broke his ankle there once). But there's nothing that says 'Winter in Canada' quite like dozens of kids squealing down the hill after the first snowfall of the year.




Our town hall and the adjacent park are almost stereotypically small town Ontario - so much so that both have proven popular locations for film shoots (although not so much lately - what happened?). The gazebo, the cenotaph, the formidable stone facade of our former court house - it's all almost painfully quaint... except that it really is a lovely place to pause and relax. The enormous trees give plenty of shade. A bike path meanders across the green lawn. A small playground, admittedly in desperate need of an upgrade, brings just enough children to keep it lively. And if you want to impress your guests, you can always tell them about how that lovely stone walled courtyard on the north side of Town Hall is where they used to hang people.



I'm of two minds when it comes to graffiti. If it's just plain black tags that serve no purpose other than to let some middle-class white kid from Milton pretend he's not, then I have no use for it. But if it's attractive, or creative, or carries a message, and it's not overly obtrusive, then I think it has a place. The Graffiti Wall is one of those places. I won't say where it is just in case someone decides to get serious about covering it up, although the Town certainly knows about it. I will say that it's not anywhere you'd ever see unless you were literally standing right in front of it, which is part of its charm. It's always changing, of course - sometimes mundane (like when I took these pictures), sometimes downright beautiful, but always impressive just for its sheer scale. If you don't know where it is and want to see it, drop me a line and I'll let you know.




Again, almost every town has one, but ours holds a special place in my heart. I think it's because of its location, right smack in the middle of town. Yes, it's woefully underused, and some of its buildings are in dire need of restoration (one of them actually fell down of its own accord last year). But come Canada Day or when the Fall Fair rolls around, it's all bustle and life. Midway rides, tractor pulls, farm animals, warm beer, bad music, fireworks and funnel cakes. As long as we have the Fairgrounds, Milton will always be a small town at heart.